CHICAGO, Ill. – Wichita State earned a thrilling five-set win over Loyola. The Shockers won by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25 and 15-13.
Mikaela Raudsepp and
Shimen Fayad led the Shockers with 13 kills each, while
Emily Hiebert had 42 assists and
Dani Mostrom had 15 digs.
Loyola raced out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first set. The Shockers answered with two-straight to cut the lead to 4-2. A Rambler service ace increased the lead to 12-9, but the Shockers scored three-straight to tie it at 12. A ball handling error gave the Shocks their first lead at 14-13 and a kill by
Katy Dudzinski increased the lead to 17-13. Two-straight kills from
Abbie Lehman brought the Shockers to set point at 24-18 and a block by Lehman and
Katie Reilly gave WSU the 25-18 win.
The Shockers took a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and increased it to 7-2 after a kill from
Jody Larson. The Ramblers used a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead, but the Shocks tied it at 14 on a block by
Shimen Fayad. The two teams traded points until the Ramblers took a 20-17 lead with a block. WSU used back-to-back kills from Reilly to pull within 20-19, but LU reached set point at 24-21. A setting error and a kill from Dudzinski pulled WSU to within 24-23, but the Ramblers won the set 25-23.
The third set went back and forth until the Shockers used a 5-0 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Ramblers answered with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 12. Kills from Rayad and
Mikaela Raudsepp put the Shocks up 16-13 and another Raudsepp kill gave WSU a 20-16 lead. The Ramblers pulled to within 21-19, but three-straight points brought the Shockers to set point at 24-19. WSU won the set 25-21 on a kill from Fayad.
The Ramblers took a 6-3 lead in the fourth set, but the Shockers tied it at six after a kill from Fayad. The two teams traded points until a 4-0 run by the Shockers gave WSU a 13-10 lead. LU answered with a 6-0 run to take an 18-14 lead. A block by Dudzinski pulled the Shocks to within 22-19, but the Ramblers won the set 25-21.
Loyola went up 6-2 in the fifth set, but a Reilly kill and a Reilly/Hiebert block brought the Shocks to within 9-7. Two kills from Raudsepp and a kill from Hiebert put the Shocks up 10-9. Loyola tied it at 13 on a service ace, but two Rambler errors gave WSU a 15-13 win.
The Shockers are next in action on Sat., Nov. 14 at Bradley at 7 p.m.
-Wichita State-