Volleyball Weekly Release #14

Nov. 22, 2005

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Loyola defeats Wright State for 2005 Horizon League title

Ramblers will learn NCAA Tournament match-up on Monday, Nov. 28

Loyola University Chicago won its second straight Horizon League Volleyball tournament title with a 3-2 (28-30,30-23,30-21,15-30,15-12) win over Wright State University on Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Flames Center in Chicago, Ill.

Tournament MVP Sarah Elmer recorded a triple-double for the Ramblers with 11 kills, 59 assists and 12 digs in the championship showdown. Hilary Stromath recorded 20 kills on .444 hitting to lead the Loyola offense, while Ann Deelo notched 31 digs on the match for the defense.

Sarah Poling tallied a team-high 19 kills and 15 digs for seventh-seeded Wright State. Lisa Griffith added six kills and a match-high six blocks for the Raiders, who made the school's first ever appearance in the title game.  Wright State defeated No. 6 Butler, 3-0, in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, then survived a 3-2 match with No. 3 UIC in the quarterfinal round on Friday before defeating No. 2 Cleveland State in five games on Saturday to advance to the final.

The fourth-seeded Ramblers, on the other hand, had a bye into the quarterfinal round of the tournament, where they faced No. 5-seed UW-Green Bay. Loyola defeated the Phoenix in five games, then knocked off regular season champion UW-Milwaukee in four games on Saturday to advance to its eighth championship match in the last nine seasons.

Wright State came out strong in game one, holding the Ramblers at bay until late in the game, when Loyola grabbed its first lead at 27-26 on a block by Shelby Henriksen and Audrey Davis. The Ramblers' lead was short-lived, however, as a kill by Sarah Poling and a long-attempt by Shelby Henriksen gave the Raiders a 30-28 win.

Loyola grabbed a 12-6 lead to begin game two, holding off the Raiders for a 30-23 win. The Ramblers then out-hit WSU, .291 to .163, for a victory in game three. The Raiders battled back, however, using a string of Sarah Poling serves to hand LU a lopsided 30-15 defeat in game four.

Both teams kept it close in game five, trading points most of the way until an Audrey Davis kill gave the Ramblers a 15-12 win and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 3-2 win marked the fourth consecutive season in which the title match had gone to five games. Prior to this year's finale for the Ramblers, Loyola defeated Cleveland State 3-2 last season, UW-Green Bay beat UW-Milwaukee 3-2 in 2003 and Loyola fell to UW-Milwaukee in five games in 2002.

With the win, Loyola (12-17) now holds the record for tournament titles won with five. The Ramblers won the tournament crown in 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005. Former member Notre Dame is second with four tournament titles (1991-94)

The victory earned the Ramblers the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Dec. 1 at campus sites.  The NCAA selection show will take place on Monday, Nov. 28 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

2005 Horizon League Championship All-Tournament Team

2005 Tournament MVP

Sarah Elmer

Loyola

Elmer finished the tournament with a .345 hitting percentage in addition to guiding the Rambler offense with 11.43 assists per game.  She also contributed 2.14 kills and 2.29 digs per game.

Audrey Davis

Loyola

All-Newcomer selection Davis averaged 2.86 kills per game over the weekend on .279 hitting.  She also averaged 0.64 blocks per game.

Hilary Stromath

Loyola

Stromath averaged 3.55 kills per game at the tournament while hitting at a .355 clip.  She also lead the Rambler with 1.07 blocks per game.

Sarah Poling

Wright State

All-League selection Sarah Poling averaged 3.89 kills and 3.83 digs per game in four matches for the Raiders over the weekend.  She also added five service aces.

Lizzy Gunn

Wright State

All-Newcomer team selection Lizzy Gunn led the Raiders with 1.17 bpg (21 total blocks).  She also added 1.39 kills per game.

Lindsey Frank

Wright State

The Wright State setter averaged 10.22 assists and 3.33 digs per game over the weekend.  She also hit .510 in the Raiders' four matches.

Butler's Knightly breaks Horizon League record for career digs

Senior libero Megan Knightly is now the Horizon League leader for career digs with 1,737.  Knightly entered the Horizon League Championship with 1,711 digs, 11 behind Jessica Taylor (Butler, 1989-1992), then recorded 26 digs in a three-loss to Wright State in the tournament's opening round to become both the new Butler and Horizon League leader.

YSU's Pasquinelli reaches 4,000 career assists

With 49 assists on the match, Youngstown setter Angie Pasquinelli became only the second player in the history of the Youngstown State program to reach 4,000 assists for a career. She ends her YSU career with 4,028 total assists. Her 1,209 assists on the season are also the fourth highest single season total in school history.

CSU's Hatcher records career-high 31 digs in loss to Raiders

Alisa Hatcher recorded a personal-best 31 digs in the final match of the season for Cleveland State, a 3-2 loss to Wright State in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.  After sitting out last year due a long recovery from a blood clot in her lungs, Hatcher came back to average 4.17 digs and 0.25 service aces per game.