Loyola stuns BYU in first round of NCAA women's volleyball tourney
Loyola (22-11) pulled off a major and historic upset in the first round of the NCAA women's volleyball tournament on Thursday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana, knocking off 24th-ranked Brigham Young (19-10) in a sweep before 2,415 at Purdue's Holloway Gymnasium.
The Ramblers' 25-20, 25-21, 21-17 stunner was the program's first victory in seven trips to the NCAAs and moved them into a second-round match against Purdue (25-6) on Friday (6 p.m., ESPN+). The host Boilermakers swept Western Michigan (20-13) in the first round.
Grad student outside hitter Marta Cvitkovic (Croatia) led the Ramblers' charge with 13 kills on 27 attempts against one error (.444 hitting percentage) and scored the match-winner on a sizzling spike that hit the sideline. Senior setter Bree Borum (Sterling, Illinois) collected four kills, 32 assists, 10 digs and two blocks for the unranked Atlantic 10 tournament champions. Freshman libero Sam Falk (Mother McAuley) chipped in 11 digs, two aces and four assists as Loyola extended its winning streak to 13.
The Cougars, an at-large entry to the tournament out of the Big 12, had not been knocked out of the first round of the NCAAs since 2005. BYU had an RPI of 19; Loyola was 56th on the RPI list.
"[Our team has] been really committed this whole postseason run and today they made plays," Ramblers coach Amanda Berkley told the media. "That's been a theme of ours all season -- making plays. We saw a lot of players make plays, including Marta, Bree, Sam, and Olivia [Lovett]. Marta had a tremendous offensive game."
Also on Friday in NCAA tournament first-round matches, Illinois (18-12) will meet Northern Iowa (25-7) at 3 p.m. in Louisville, followed by Chicago State (19-9) vs. the host Cardinals at 6 p.m. (both matches on ESPN+).