Loyola exercises playoff demons against New Trier, advances to final eight

New Trier volleyball fans have gotten to enjoy long playoff runs the past four seasons, as the Trevians advanced to the supersectional each year.

But those runs had another another spectator: Loyola Academy.

The Ramblers looked on as the Trevs marched on, and the past two seasons had a front-row seat.

“When the sectional bracket came out, we said, ‘This is our time to beat New Trier,'” Ramblers senior libero Addi Daigler said Thursday after the sectional-title match. “They ended our season two years in a row and there are nine of us seniors who were like, ‘We’re not going to let that happen again.'”

So they didn’t.

Behind a stout defensive effort, Loyola Academy topped New Trier 25-21, 29-27 on Thursday, Nov. 5, at Schaumburg High School. It is the Ramblers first sectional title since 2022, fifth all time and first under coach Lionel Ebeling, who is also the school’s boys volleyball coach.

Loyola advances to the supersectional round (final eight) of the IHSA Class 4A bracket, where the Ramblers will face off with Oak Park-River Forest at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at New Trier in Winnetka.

“We kind of realized that it is now or never,” Daigler said about her team’s postseason run. “Nothing is promised in the playoffs. We were done letting teams walk over us and we were like, ‘This is our sectional; we want to win it.'”

New Trier, though, made a statement early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead behind three kills from senior Serena Bauer (match-high 13 kills).

But with Daigler serving, Loyola ripped off the next five points to gain control.

Ramblers senior Kaelyn Pasma (4 kills, ace in Set 1) powered her team’s mid-set run that gave Loyola a commanding 20-14 advantage.

They fended off a Trevians’ comeback to win the first set and carried the momentum into the second, jumping out to a 10-5 lead.

During the stretch, Daigler (13 digs) and company were getting after it on the defensive end, keeping rallies alive for the offense.

“Kudos to them,” Trevians coach Hannah Hseih said. “I thought they showed great fight, hustled, showed a lot of heart on defense. So did our girls. We had a lot of fight.”

Facing the five-point deficit, New Trier’s fight kicked in. The Trevians tied the set at 13-13 before taking a 15-14 lead.

Up 22-19, New Trier looked on its way to forcing a third set, but Loyola had other ideas.

A Gia D’Angelo block and Brooke Wetoska ace helped the Ramblers take the lead back, 23-22.

Then, New Trier’s Kate Andersons forced set point, 24-23, with an ace. But Karolina Mordasiewicz and Pasma answered with back-to-back kills for the Ramblers.

The rivals traded blows until it was 27-27, and then consecutive kills from Loyola’s Audrina Harvey and Makenzie Nash started the celebration.

“Our girls executed well,” Ebeling said. “We were serving and hitting our spots. We were attacking strategically and blocking really well, which allowed us to play defense and keep those rallies going. The girls just really executed our gameplan really well at the end.”

About the rivalry, Ebeling said it’s always a battle.

“New Trier-Loyola — it doesn’t matter if it’s boys, girls, doesn’t matter if it’s volleyball, basketball, football — it always means a little bit more,” he said.

For New Trier, Andersons finished with 9 kills, while Ciara Ferrell had 4.

The CSL South and Conant Regional champion Trevians wave goodbye to a senior-heavy group led by Bauer, Andersons, middles Charlie Cohen and Mia Fitzpatrick, liberos Delaney Maher and Anna Yoder, and setters Nora Murdock and Sophia Farina.

“Anytime you have a senior-heavy group — everyone was playing hard,” Hsieh said. “I’m sad for them that they can’t continue their season because I know how much they love what they do.”

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