Oct. 5, 2012

Box Score

CHICAGO - Anna Eytchison had 25 kills and Loyola seized control of the deciding fifth set quickly in claiming a 23-25, 25-13, 20-25, 25-16, 15-9 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night at the Gentile Center.

The Ramblers (12-6, 4-1 Horizon) scored nine of the first 11 points of the final frame in taking control for the victory. UWM was able to rally within 9-6 and 12-9 but could not get over the hump.

Elizabeth Egerer had 18 kills while Julie Kolinske and Rachel Neuberger added 14 apiece for Milwaukee (7-10, 2-2), but the Panthers had as many errors as kills over the final two sets.

For the match, Loyola hit .277 while limiting Milwaukee to a .166 hitting clip. Kathleen Vogel added 15 kills and Libby Bresser 10 for the Ramblers.

But the contest was a roller-coaster for the Panthers, who played very well in winning the first and third sets but struggled in all three sets they dropped.

"It was hard in the fifth set but really the match was like that," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "There were a lot of highs and lows. We were really good and then really bad, and there was not a lot of in between and that makes it really hard to come out on top."

Milwaukee pulled out the first set with a gutsy effort after trailing most of the way. UWM trailed 11-8 after a kill by Eytchison and still found itself down 20-18 later in the set. But the Panthers scored four in a row from there, with kills from Neuberger and Egerer highlighting the run. The Ramblers fought back to tie the frame at 22 and 23 before Milwaukee provided the final burst. A kill from Egerer pushed UWM to set-point and then Kolinske finished off a long rally with a hard kill to put the Panthers ahead in the match.

It was all Loyola in the second set. The Ramblers broke a 5-all tie with seven-straight points and then never looked back. The Loyola advantage grew to 15-7 on a kill by Laura Purcell and eventually hit 20-10. UWM scored the next two points but would never threaten as an ace by Brittany Brown eventually finished things off.

The Panthers struck back with a solid effort in the third set to go back ahead in the match. UWM ran off seven-straight points to claim a 12-4 lead and was still ahead 15-9 at the midway point of the frame. Loyola scored five in a row, though, pulling within 15-14 on a second-straight ace by Kathleen Vogel. Vogel served into the net with her next effort and the Panthers regained some control, with an Amber Simonton kill making it 18-14 and an Egerer kill keeping the lead at 21-17. Loyola did pull back to within 22-20 but the Ramblers hit it out at the end of a long rally on the next point before a block by Neuberger and Kolinske pushed things to set-point. Kolinske then finished off the frame with a kill and UWM was back in front.

Loyola again controlled play most of the fourth set. The Ramblers built a 10-6 lead on a Libby Bresser kills and eventually went up 18-10 on a kill by Brown. The Panthers never really recovered from there, though UWM pulled within 20-14 after two-straight Loyola errors. But, the lead grew back to 23-15 on a UWM error and a kill by Purcell closed things out.

UWM then dug a hole it could not get out of in the fifth set. Loyola turned a 2-1 deficit into a 9-2 lead thanks to a decisive eight-point run. The Panthers did crawl back to within 9-6 on a kill by Nicole Latzig but the Ramblers responded with the next three points to reclaim control.

The Panthers wrap up their weekend in Chicago with a Saturday afternoon contest at UIC.