NCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament Preview: Loyola vs. Wisconsin

Nov. 28, 2005

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Loyola University Chicago (13-17) will face No. 11-seed University of Wisconsin (23-6) in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 at the UW Field House in Madison, Wis.  The winner will take on either Valparaiso or California in the tournament's second round on Saturday, Dec. 3.

How they got here:

Loyola

Loyola concluded the regular season with an overall 10-17 record, including eight wins in League play. The Ramblers had a bye into the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League tournament, where they faced No. 5 UW-Green Bay. The Ramblers defeated the Phoenix in five games, then knocked off regular season champion UW-Milwaukee in four games on Saturday to advance to an eighth championship match in the last nine seasons. The Ramblers defeated Wright State in five games to earn the League's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

Wisconsin

The Badgers (23-6) finished second to Penn State in the Big Ten with a conference record of 15-5 using a double round-robin format.  Wisconsin ended the regular season ranked 14th in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll and earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where only the top 16 teams are seeded.

How they have fared against each other:

These two teams last met in the 2004 NCAA Championship, with the Badgers taking the win in three games, 30-27, 30-26, 30-25.

Who to Watch:

Loyola

Courtney Ashley - The junior from Naperville, Illinois, led the Horizon League with 0.41 service aces per game this season, in addition to averaging 2.19 kills and 2.92 digs per game. Ashley also earned All-Horizon League team honors.

Sarah Elmer - Elmer, the 2005 Horizon League Tournament MVP, finished fifth in the League with a 10.56 assists per game average.  She concluded the regular season with averages of 1.49 kills, 2.44 digs and 0.44 blocks per game. The junior from Fort Wayne, Indiana, also notched two triple-doubles this season and was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week for Nov. 7.

Hilary Stromath - Stromath led the Ramblers with a 3.03 kills per game average this season, while hitting .260.  The senior from Manhattan Beach, California, recorded season-highs of 20 kills and .520 hitting for the Loyola offense.

Ann Deelo - Deelo, a junior libero from St. Louis, Missouri, averaged 3.88 digs per game this season for the Ramblers. She recorded a new season-high in each match of the Horizon League Championship, besting a 27-dig performance against UW-Green Bay with 28 digs against UW-Milwaukee, then topping the weekend with a career-high 31 digs against Wright State in the title match.

Wisconsin

Taylor Reineke -  The sophomore middle blocker from Naperville, Ill., led the Big Ten with 1.67 blocks per game this season and finished seventh in the conference with a .328 hitting percentage.  Reineke averaged 2.39 kills per game on the season.

Sheila Shaw - Shaw finished second to teammate Reineke with 1.51 blocks per game during her senior season. The middle blocker also finished eighth in the Big Ten with 0.32 service aces per game this season, plus averaged 2.90 kills per game.

Jocelyn Wack - The sophomore from Salem, Wis., finished fourth in the Big Ten with 5.07 digs per game.  She raised that average to 5.11 bpg in conference matches.

Jackie Simpson - Simpson ended the regular season with exactly 1,000 assists and an 11.76 apg average, good for sixth in the Big Ten.  The sophomore from Downers Grove, Ill., hit .269 for the Badgers, while averaging 0.87 kills, 0.99 blocks and 1.86 digs per game.

By the Numbers

Wisconsin plays an efficient style of volleyball, finishing 69 percent of its matches in three games, compared to only 41 percent for the Ramblers.  Both teams appear to struggle in four game matches, posting losing records of 1-3 (Wisconsin) and 3-11 (Loyola).  Both have suffered only one loss when a match has gone to five-games, a 2-3 Rambler loss to Cleveland State on Nov. 12 and a 2-3 Badger loss at Michigan on Oct. 22.

                                    Loyola               Wisconsin

Overall Record:              13-17                23-6

Conf. Record:                  8-6                  15-5

Home:                             8-5                  11-2

Away:                             2-9                   8-3

Neutral:                          3-3                   4-1

3-games:                        7-5                  18-2

4-games:                        3-11                 1-3

5-games                         3-1                   4-1

The Coaches

Marcie Bomhack, Loyola - In her first year as head coach of the Ramblers, Bomhack led Loyola to a second consecutive Horizon League championship. Prior to coming to Loyola, Bomhack spent one year at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis., where she guided the men's team to a conference title. As a student athlete at Notre Dame, Bomhack helped the Fighting Irish to three consecutive Big East regular season titles (1999-2001).

Pete Waite, Wisconsin - Waite has led the Badgers to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2000 NCAA Championship match.  During his tenure, Wisconsin has captured two Big Ten titles, coming in 2000 and 2001. Prior to coming to Wisconsin, Waite spent 11 years at Northern Illinois University.