Revolutionaries Rock Ramblers in Four Sets

The Loyola women’s volleyball team failed to earn a two-game sweep over Atlantic 10 (A10) foe George Washington University, losing in four sets. The Ramblers were led by second-year outside hitter Kaitlyn Burke, who had a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. The Revolutionaries’ second-year outside hitter Cayla Cogan led the match with 15 kills.

Loyola started the match right where they left off with a 3-0 run consisting of a George Washington error, a spike from fourth-year middle blocker Ann Marie Remmes and a kill from second-year outside and right side hitter Kate Maley. 

The Revolutionaries got back in the set after a service error on third-year setter Emma Henry. The error sparked a 5-0 run consisting of an attack error on first-year outside hitter Leyna Nguyen, two kills from George Washington’s second-year opposite hitter Taylor Treahy and a kill from Revolutionaries’ graduate middle blocker Sydney Hasenfratz, forcing a Rambler timeout.

Loyola tied the game at five off a Remmes kill and an attack error on George Washington. Both sides traded kills until a Hunter service error and a block from George Washington’s second-year setter Abby Markworth and fourth-year middle blocker Cianna Tejada, gave the Revolutionaries a 10-7 lead. 

A service error and kill from first-year middle blocker and outside hitter Karli Molnau cut the lead down to 10-9. The Ramblers’ work was instantly undone by themselves as attack errors on Nguyen and Molnau brought the difference to 12-9.

The next six points scored were a split of three kills on each side — Loyola’s coming from Molnau and two by Remmes, George Washington’s coming from two by Cogan and another from Hasenfratz — making it 15-12 Revolutionaries.

Loyola’s offense kicked it into high gear, launching a 5-0 barrage of a Maley kill, Remmes’ service ace, a Tejada attack error and two blocks off contributions from Maley, Burke and third-year middle blocker Avary DeBlieck assisting on both, giving the Ramblers a 17-15 lead and forcing a George Washington timeout.

The Revolutionaries tied it at 17 with kills from Treahy and Tejada. The tie didn’t last as another 5-0 Rambler run off kills from Maley, Nguyen, Molnau, DeBlieck and a block from Burke and DeBlieck made it 22-17.

An attack error on Burke was the last George Washington point as kills from Burke, Nguyen and Molanu finished the set at 25-18.

Set two started with a Burke attack error, giving George Washington the lead before instantly making up for it with a kill of her own. A Tejada kill and block along with Treahy, gave the Revolutionaries a 3-1 lead. Loyola jumped immediately back in front after a solo block and kill from Burke and a Molnau kill, making it 4-3.

Both sides continued to trade points, neither getting consecutive kills until Cogan broke the tie with back-to-back kills to give George Washington a 9-7 lead. The Revolutionaries started to build a lead from there, winning four of the next six points off two Tejada kills, one from Cogan and one from Treahy to make it 13-9. 

Consecutive Treahy attack errors brought Loyola back within two, which was as close as they got the rest of the set as a 7-2 run split across two Loyola timeouts broke the set open. The run consisted of five Rambler attack errors — two from Burke, two from Nguyen and one from DeBlieck. George Washington contributed kills from Treahy and Hasenfratz to make it 20-13.

A block by DeBlieck and Molnau, along with an attack error on George Washington’s second-year Alexis Rodriguez, cut it to 20-15. A 4-2 run from the Revolutionaries consisting of two Cogan kills, one from Markworth and a block by Cogan and Hasenfratz brought it to set point at 24-16. A Remmes kill made it 24-17 before another Cogan kill ended the set at 25-17.

George Washington opened the third set on a 3-0 run with a kill from Markworth, a service ace from fourth-year Revolutionaries libero Penelope Hiepler and a Nguyen attack error. A Hiepler service error put Loyola on the board, but a 4-1 Revolutionary run off kills from Tejada, Rodriguez, Treahy and Markworth made it 7-2.

Both teams traded kills and errors for the next 12 points, neither side gaining on the other, making it 13-8. Loyola built back into the set off a Rodriguez attack error and a block from Maley and Remmes. George Washington offset the short run with a Hasenfratz kill and a solo block from Cogan to make it 15-10.

The teams traded 2-0 rallies again to keep the score five points apart as Loyola called a timeout. Loyola propelled itself in front for the first time in the set on a 6-0 run with two kills from Burke, two from Molnau, a Hunter service ace and an attack error on Rodriguez, making it 18-17, forcing a George Washington timeout.

A service error and Molnau kill lengthened Loyola’s lead to 20-18. The lead didn’t last as an attack error on Nguyen, a block by Tejada and Rodriguez, along with a kill from Rodriguez, put George Washington up 21-20 as Loyola used their final timeout. 

After a pair of kills from Rodriguez put George Washington up 23-21, Loyola went on a 3-0 run of a service error, a bad set by Markworth and a kill by second-year outside hitter Claire Van Den Herik to give themselves set point 24-23.

The Ramblers were shut out from there as Rodriguez took control with two straight kills and a block on a Nguyen attack, winning the set 26-24.

The fourth set was the most competitive of the match, with 16 ties and neither team ever grabbing a lead larger than three. Remmes started off the set with an error before making up for it with a kill, added on by a Treacy attack error to make it 2-1 Ramblers.

The teams continued to trade the lead throughout the set with back-to-back kills from Rodriguez, giving George Washington leads at 4-3 and 7-6, while a Molanau kill and Van Den Herik and Remmes block gave Loyola back the lead at 8-7.

The next eleven points were back and forth before a Hunter kill and a Rodriguez attack error gave Loyola a 15-13 advantage. Remmes tacked on a kill and a block assist with Maley to make it 17-14 and force a George Washington timeout.

A 3-1 run with kills from Cogan, Tejada and a Burke attack error brought the Revolutionaries within a point at 18-17. The sides traded more kills until consecutive attacks from Hasenfratz tied the set at 21, forcing a Loyola timeout.

Molnau and Nguyen tallied two kills to make it 23-21 before a Nguyen attack error and a Hasenfratz kill tied it again at 23. After a Loyola timeout, an attack error on Molnau gave George Washington set point. A Molnau kill tied it at 24 apiece, but consecutive kills from Cogan ended the match in four sets at 26-24.

After the match, head coach Amanda Berkley spoke on what she saw caused the Ramblers to drop three straight sets after taking the first.

“We just didn’t connect well with the setting,” Berkley said. “We connect well offensively, so we made way too many hitting errors, and we weren’t doing a good job of siding efficiently.”

Loyola next takes the court Tuesday, Oct. 7, on the road against the Saint Louis University Billikens. Streaming is available on ESPN+