Women’s Volleyball Secures Second Consecutive Sweep

The Loyola women’s volleyball team secured its second-consecutive sweep over George Mason University in Gentile Arena Oct. 26. The Ramblers had high hitting percentages all around with a highlight on third-year middle blocker Ann Marie Remmes who had a perfect game hitting 1.000. 

Having swept the Patriots a day prior, the Ramblers came in with a new game mindset, according to Remmes. 

Early defensive plays in the first set from first-year libero Sam Falk and fourth-year setter Bree Borum helped give Loyola an early 5-4 lead.

After kills from second-year middle blocker Avary DeBlieck and fourth-year opposite Esma Ajanovic, the Ramblers extended the lead to 11-7 prompting George Mason timeout. 

Out of the timeout, Loyola gained four straight points, including kills by Remmes and graduate outside hitter Marta Cvitkovic bringing the score to 15-8.

After Patriot errors and an extended rally with scrappy defensive plays by Falk, Borum and first-year defensive specialist Jae Fitting. Cvitkovic ended the rally with a kill, bringing the score to 21-14. 

The Ramblers closed out the set with four consecutive points including an ace by Falk and a block by Remmes and Ajanovic. The final point won the set 25-15 after a net violation by the Patriots.

The Ramblers started the second set with momentum, winning the first three points off two blocks by Cvitkovic and Remmes and a kill by Borum. After two kills by Cvitkovic and a kill by Ajanovic, George Mason called their first timeout down 7-2.

The Patriots made continuous errors while Cvitkovic picked up three more kills, leading to the Patriot’s second timeout with a score of 13-4. 

After two kills by Remmes and Cvitkovic as well as an ace by Remmes, Loyola took a large 21-9 lead. Borum was subbed out and second-year setter Emma Henry came in as the setter, recording an ace on her first serve of the match. 

The Patriots went on a three-point run which ended on a net violation to make it  a score of 23-12. The Ramblers were able to close out the second set 25-14 on a kill by fourth-year outside hitter Olivia Lovett.. 

The third set started off back-and-forth as the first few rallies included three kills by Remmes as well as a sneaky setter dump by Borum, bringing the score to 5-4. 

Ajanovic was able to gain two points off a kill and a block. After another Borum setter dump and an ace by Lovett, George Mason used their first timeout of this set with a score of 8-5. 

The Patriots took their second timeout of the set at 14-7, after two kills and a block by Lovett and a kill and ace by Ajanovic. George Mason then lost a challenge on a Lovett kill, bolstering Loyola’s 16-9 lead.

After various Rambler attack and service errors, the Patriots crawled back with a score of 18-15, prompting a Loyola timeout. 

Out of the timeout, the Ramblers earned four consecutive points including a Cvitkovic kill and a kill and ace by Borum, making the score 22-16.

After two kills by Ajanovic, Lovett closed out the third set with an ace, giving Loyola a 25-17 win.

Following the end of the match, the Ramblers honored four graduating fourth-years — Cvitkovic, Lovett, Ajanovic and Borum. Each has been essential to the Ramblers volleyball community and will be very missed, according to head coach Amanda Berkley. 

Berkley said senior day means  a lot as a coach, especially after taking both wins this weekend.

“I’m really proud of them, and I want them to have success,” Berkley said. “They’re just such good players and good people. And I’m just really excited for them to have had a really good moment this weekend.”

Berkley said she was proud of the team for playing hard even though they were coming off a sweep. She said the team did a great job of getting a playable ball off a defense so that the offense could thrive. 

The Ramblers take on Duquesne University in Pittsburgh Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. and Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. Streaming information has yet to be announced.