Women’s volleyball fights off Wildcats for a four-set win

Loyola women’s volleyball defeated Davidson College 3-1 in a conference match up Oct. 16. Despite the loss, Wildcats fourth-year outside hitter Elena Garcia-Guerrios led the match with 15 kills, and second-year outside and defensive specialist Leyna Nguyen followed with 14 kills for the Ramblers. 

The first set started with a hit out of bounds by Davidson third-year outside hitter Meile Songaila before Garcia-Guerrios and second-year right side Katie Scherer traded kills. A kill by Wildcat second-year outside and opposite Ariyana Johnson was followed with a block by Davidson fourth-year middle blocker Mia Compas to put the Wildcats in the lead 3-2. 

Davidson third-year libero Brooke Briscoe served an ace, and a hit attempt from third-year middle blocker Chloe Morgan landed out of bounds. Garcia-Guerrios tallied another kill before Loyola took a timeout, trailing 6-2. 

Scherer and first-year outside and right side Tenley Davis each recorded a kill, and Johnson’s serve went into the net. A Compas kill was negated with a block by third-year outside hitter Claire Van Den Herik and fourth-year middle blocker Avary DeBlieck. 

A kill from Songaila and an out-of-bounds hit by third-year outside and opposite Kate Maley put Davidson in the lead 10-5.

A run of six kills — one each from Van Den Herik, Scherer, DeBlieck, Johnson and Songaila — was followed by a missed serve from Songaila. Scherer’s hit attempt landed outside of the lines, and a block by Johnson and Compas strengthened the 15-8 Wildcat lead. 

Briscoe recorded a service ace, which was negated with a kill from Nguyen. A block attempt on Johnson’s hit by DeBlieck and Nguyen landed out of bounds, giving the point to Davidson. Johnson’s service ace gave Davidson a lead 18-9. 

Nguyen and Garcia-Guerrios swapped kills before Maley recorded an attack error. A Compas kill and Garcia-Guerrios service ace were followed by an out-of-bounds hit by Van Den Herik. A final service ace by Garcia-Guerrios and a kill from Johnson secured the first set victory for Davidson 25-10. 

Songaila started the second set with a kill, before Maley’s hit landed outside the lines. A block by Wildcat first-year middle blocker Myla Young and Johnson was followed by a Nguyen kill. A Garcia-Guerrios kill, a Briscoe service ace and a kill from Compas put Davidson in the lead 6-1. 

Maley and Songaila traded kills before Johnson’s serve hit the net. Morgan recorded a solo block and Garcia-Guerrios hit the ball into the net. 

Third-year setter Mya Ball served the ball into the net, but it was quickly followed with a kill from Van Den Herik. Davidson third-year setter Kinsey Smith and Compas put up a block before Morgan and Scherer responded with a block of their own. 

Morgan’s serve went into the net before Briscoe had a bad set, and no one on Davidson attacked the ball. Third-year libero Sam Falk also recorded a bad set, but it was followed up by DeBlieck and Garcia-Guierros trading kills. 

Loyola then went on an eight-point unanswered scoring run, with kills by DeBlieck, Maley, Van Den Herik and Nguyen, as well as a solo block from Maley. Johnson’s hit landed out of bounds and Songaila hit the ball into the net, giving the Ramblers a 16-12 lead. 

Falk recorded a service ace and error before first-year middle blocker Camryn Hughes put up a solo block. Maley, Garcia-Guerrios and Songail swapped kills before Garcia-Guerrios recorded an attack error. 

A series of five kills was hit — two each from Scherer and Songaila and one from Morgan. Songaila’s hit landed out of bounds, and was followed by a DeBlieck kill. Fourth-year setter Emma Henry missed her serve, but a kill by Maley secured the set 25-19 for Loyola.

Falk said the team was able to adjust their attitudes after the first set to get them back in the groove. 

“I think we just brought a lot more energy and a lot more fight, and we all had a lot of confidence and picked each other up,” Falk said. 

The third set started with traded kills from Nguyen and Songaila. DeBlieck served an ace before Nguyen’s next hit landed in the net. Songaila recorded a service ace of her own, and kills from Maley and Van Den Herik, as well as a service ace by Falk, put the score at an even four. 

Johnson and Morgan each tallied a kill before Henry’s serve landed outside the court. A run of kills from Van Den Herik, Nguyen and Garcia-Guierros evened the score at seven. Morgan and Wildcat first-year libero and defensive specialist Peyton Garrick both recorded service errors — Garrick’s serve call was challenged and the call was overturned, awarding a service ace to Garrick and a point to Davidson, putting them in the lead 9-7.

A Garcia-Guerrios kill was met with a kill each from Scherer, Nguyen and Van Den Herik. Henry served the ball into the net and Songaila tallied a kill off a Loyola net violation. DeBlieck tabbed a kill before Nguyen served an ace. Three consecutive kills from Garcia-Guerrios put the Wildcats ahead 15-12 and forced a Rambler timeout. 

Maley responded after the break with three kills of her own to tie the set at 15. A run of seven kills were hit by Garcia-Guerrios, Maley, Morgan, Nguyen and Scherer, putting the Ramblers in the lead 20-17. 

Nguyen’s next hit landed off-court, but she and Morgan put up a block. Nguyen, Garcia-Guerrios and Songaila each recorded an attack error. A kill from Johnson wasn’t enough to put the Wildcats in the lead, and kills by Nguyen and DeBlieck clinched the set win for Loyola 25-20. 

The fourth set started with a run of seven kills — four for Loyola and three for Davidson. Johnson and Young put up two blocks on Van Den Herik’s hits before Morgan and Johnson traded kills. Scherer and Morgan each tallied a kill, as did Johnson, tying the set at seven. 

A Johnson kill was sandwiched between kills by Nyugen, and Maley’s next hit landed outside the court. Garrick missed her serve, and Songaila met her own service error with a kill. Johnson tabbed a kill before Smith recorded a service error to put the Ramblers up 12-11. 

Songaila’s kill was met with a Nguyen hit that landed in the net. Garcia-Guerrios recorded an attack error before third-year libero Jae Fitting served up an ace. Johnson’s next hit landed out-of-bounds. 

Nguyen and Garcia-Guerrios traded kills, Morgan’s hit landed just shy of the line, and Nguyen tabbed another kill. Wildcat second-year outside hitter Ellie Ocampo recorded an attack error before Scherer and Johnson tallied a kill each, strengthening the 18-17 Loyola lead. 

Maley’s kill was followed by a Songaila attack error. Johnson, Garrick and Songaila each spiked a kill before Van Den Herik responded with a kill of her own. 

Songaila and Maley traded kills before Ball served an ace, putting the Ramblers up by two. A Garcia-Guerrios kill shortened the gap, but a kill from Scherer and a block by Morgan and Scherer secured the match with a Loyola set win 25-22. 

Head Coach Amanda Berkley said she was proud of the team’s ability to bounce back at the first set. 

“I thought our serving improved in the last three sets,” Berkley said. “Our defense and our offense definitely improved in the last three sets.”

The Ramblers currently sit third in the Atlantic 10, and they travel to compete against conference rivals, the University of Dayton, Oct. 23. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and the match can be streamed on ESPN+.