Box Score

DeKALB, Ill. - It was a tiring afternoon for the Fairfield University volleyball team at the Northern Illinois Invitational with both of the day's matches going to five sets. This time, Fairfield could not overtake undefeated Loyola-Chicago, falling 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 12-25, 27-25, 9-15). 

Sophomores Alex Lopez (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) and Lauren Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) paced the Fairfield (2-6) attack. Lopez tallied 15 kills and seven digs while Hughes added 13 kills on .407 hitting. 

Setter Lauren Balmert (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) was just shy of a double-double 30 assists and nine digs. Junior Katie Mann (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) notched five total blocks along with five kills while senior Karlie Urbaniak (Canton, Minn./Mabel-Canton) had five kills and eight digs. 

The Ramblers (8-0) hit .279 for the match while the Stags hit .177. Fairfield out-blocked Loyola-Chicago, 6-5. 

The Ramblers maintained at least a three-point lead for most of the first set but used a 6-1 run to take a 19-11 lead. A string of Fairfield errors allowed Loyola-Chicago's lead to grow to as much as 10 points before the Ramblers' Mallory Curran put the set away with a kill. 

Fairfield opened the second set by going on a 5-1 run for the early lead. The Ramblers cut the gap to 8-7 on a kill by Sarah Singer, but the Stags reeled off the next four points to make the score 12-7. Fairfield pushed its lead to 16-10, but Loyola-Chicago stormed back, pulling ahead 20-19 on a kill by Singer. Hughes tied the match 21-21 with a kill and a pair of attack errors by the Ramblers gave the Stags a 23-21 advantage. Lopez followed with a kill and then partnered with Mann for the set-ending block. 

In the third set, the two teams battled at the start, but after Loyola-Chicago went up 5-4, it never relinquished the lead, hitting .400 for the set. It was a similar start to the fourth frame. Mann gave the Stags a 7-5 lead but the Ramblers came back going up 10-8 on a block. Fairfield tied the set 10-10 but Loyola-Chicago would extend the margin to 17-14. The Stags fought back, tying the set at 18-18 on an Urbaniak kill. With the score tied at 23-23, Dana VanDiggelen put the Ramblers on top with a kill but Lopez countered with a kill of her own to tie it up. With the score knotted 25-25, Lopez and Urbaniak delivered consecutive kills to force the deciding game. 

In the fifth set, the Ramblers came out strong taking an 8-3 lead on an ace by VanDiggelen. The Stags cut the deficit to 8-5 but Loyola-Chicago posted six unanswered points before Lopez stopped the run with a kill. Despite a late push by the Stags, the Ramblers were able to hold on for the win. 

Fairfield is back in action at the Northern Illinois Invitational tomorrow, Sept. 13, with a pair of matches. The Stags face Towson at 10 a.m.(CST) and the host Huskies at 2 p.m.(CST).