CHICAGO – Loyola University Maryland hit a combined .350 in the first two sets of its Jesuit matchup against Loyola University Chicago, taking a 2-0 set lead against the host school, but the Ramblers held off the Greyhounds in the final three sets to post a 17-25, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 16-14 victory in the Hampton Inn Rambler Challenge.
 
Ann Ernst had a match-best 19 kills for the Greyhounds (1-3 overall), while Abby Hamilton and Molly Jarvis added 11 and 10, respectively. Jarvis added a team-high six blocks, and Katie Forsythe totaled 28 digs.
 
Out of the gate, the Greyhounds put away 14 kills with only four errors in the first set, siding out in a 72 percent clip in the process to take the first set. They then raised their hitting percentage to .379 in the second with 16 kills and five errors, while holding the Ramblers (2-3) to a .167 mark.
 
Ernst had five kills in each of the first two sets.
 
The Greyhounds went up 22-20 on a Jarvis service ace in the third set, but the Ramblers scored three in a row to lead 23-22 on a Quinn Spieker kill. Hamilton evened the set at 23-23, but the Ramblers took the last two points of the set.
 
After breaking a 17-17 tie with three points in a row to lead 20-17, th Ramblers pulled away in the fourth for a 25-21 set win, forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
Loyola Chicago went up 8-3 in the fifth on a Heather Kocken kill, but Jarvis and Cat Vaccaro locked up a block and sided out for the Greyhounds who eventually drew even at 9-9 and took a 10-9 lead after three-straight attack errors by the Ramblers.
 
Loyola Chicago sided out on Greyhounds service error, but Cecylia Guye put away a kill for a Loyola Maryland point to give it an 11-10 lead.
 
Spieker, however, used a kill to tie the match for the Ramblers, and Delilah Wolf had a solo block to put them in front, 12-11.
 
The Greyhounds tied the score at 12-12 on a Ramblers' service error, but the home team scored the next two to reach match-point, 14-12, on a Kocken kill.
 
Adara Kellogg, however, posted consecutive kills for the Greyhounds, and Loyola Maryland forced extra points. The Ramblers, however, closed out the win with back-to-back blocks by Kocken and Taylor Venuto.
 
Loyola Maryland will face Western Michigan in a 6 p.m. (Eastern) match in the tournament.