Wright State University
12-15, 8-5Horizon
Loyola
8-18, 4-10Horizon
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola | 30 | 18 | 25 | 32 | 11 | 2 |
| Wright State | 27 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 3 |
Volleyball Defeats Loyola in Five Games
11/2/2007 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Behind a career-tying performance from Alisha Kimbro and near double-doubles from Tara Geegan, Becca Awaa and Samantha Connor, the Wright State volleyball team defeated the Loyola Ramblers in Horizon League action Friday night at the C.J. McLin Gymnasium, winning 27-30, 30-18, 30-25, 30-32, 15-11.
The Ramblers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening game, but WSU eventually gained the lead at 19-18 following a Kimbro kill. Wright State later went up 25-24 on a Geegan kill, only to see Loyola follow with four straight points, including two kills from Keily Zins, to take control.
Three straight Rambler attack errors gave Wright State a 5-2 advantage in game two and WSU maintained the lead the rest of the way, closing the game with an 18-8 run as the Raiders outhit Loyola for the game .243 to -.020.
Game three featured 11 ties and five lead changes, the final being 16-15 as Samantha Connor started a 4-0 Raider run with a kill. The Ramblers later closed within three on three occasions, but could get no closer as WSU outhit Loyola in the third game .288-.192.
Loyola, however, would not go down quietly as despite being down much of the fourth game, rallied late to take a 28-26 lead. The Raiders answered with three straight to reach match point at 29-28, but the Ramblers forced a fifth game by outscoring Wright State 4-1 the rest of the way, capped off by kills from Zins and Sarah Singer.
The fifth game was tied four times, the last being 6-6, before WSU went ahead for good on a bad Loyola set and a Kimbro kill. A service error made it a one-point game, but the Raiders broke it open by scoring five unanswered points, including two more Kimbro kills.
Loyola had one last rally as the Ramblers cut the deficit to 13-10, but Wright State closed out the match on kills by Kimbro and Awaa.
Wright State finished with just a slight edge in kills (73-71), but the Raiders outhit Loyola .221-.153 for the match and had a 17-14.5 advantage in blocks.
With 27 kills, Kimbro tied her career high that she set at Youngstown State on October 12 and also finished with a double-double on the night as she added 13 dig Geegan had a near double-double of 14 kills and nine block assists in hitting .323 for the match while Awaa had 13 kills along with seven block assists and Connor chipped in nine kills, 23 digs and six block assists.
Libero Lexi Leonhard set a new career best with 30 digs, eclipsing the 28 she had in two matches earlier this season, while Lindsey Frank posted 62 assists and 11 digs.
Loyola (8-18, 4-10 Horizon) was led by Singer's 16 kills while Zins posted a double-double of 14 kills and 15 digs. Dana VanDiggelen added 14 kills and Melissa Craig 13 while libero Alyse Serritella recorded 29 digs.
Wright State, now 12-15 overall and 8-5 in the Horizon League, is back in action Saturday afternoon at 4:00 as the Raiders host UIC in another League match.
