Huskies halt Ramblers’ playoff run — the second longest in program history

No easy task following a season-ending loss, Loyola Academy volleyball coach Lionel Ebeling put things into perspective with his opening comment.

“It’s hard for the girls right now, but you gotta be proud,” Ebeling said. “Last year, this same group, 11 of the girls, we lost in the regional championship. We’re playing in the supersectional here. You take away [Oak Park-River Forest’s] 9-2 start in the third set and we’re right there. They need to be proud.”

Unfortunately for the Ramblers, OPRF’s early third-set burst proved too much to overcome in the IHSA Class 4A New Trier Super-sectional match. The Huskies kept the Ramblers at a distance as it finished off a 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 victory on Monday, Nov. 9, in Winnetka.

The triumph pushed OPRF through to the IHSA 4A final four, joining Mother McAuley, Joliet West and Libertyville in Normal starting Friday, Nov. 13.

It was Loyola’s fifth appearance in a supersectional, a round they’ve only conquered once (2014; 4th in state).

“We’ve only had one team go down state, so on paper so this is tied for the second best team we’ve ever had in Loyola history, just in terms of success in a playoff run,” Ebeling said. “That’s what the girls are going to remember — after today.”

To start Monday, Loyola was matching OPRF (27-8), the top sectional seed out of Jones Sectional, for half the match, trailing just 15-14 midway through the first set.

A Huskies’ 7-1 spurt created separation that the Ramblers could not overcome.

It was a similar story in the first half of the second set, but OPRF had a 15-12 advantage. This time, though, the Ramblers caught fire, going on a 9-2 run on the back of strong defense and offense from Kaelyn Pasma and Audrina Harvey, who had 6 of her 11 kills in the second set.

Loyola could not, however, hold the momentum to start the decisive third set.

“They started off with a really strong serve and once we made an error we let it get in our head,” said senior Karolina Mordasiewicz, who finished with 9 kills. “We should have fought back harder, but they did have really good serves and defense and I have to give it to them.

“And once we let them get away with that, it was hard to catch up.”

The Ramblers gave it a shot, nipping at the Huskies’ lead until a Pasma kill made it 15-11. But that was as close as Loyola would get.

Ebeling said his team’s defense was handling OPRF’s attack for much of the match, but when the Huskies, especially outsides Emmi Bozarth and Bella Gray, began hitting off the Ramblers’ block, the Ramblers defense had few chances to keep points alive.

Makenzie Nash chipped in 4 kills for Loyola, while Gia D’Angelo added 2 with 3 blocks. Allison Kilroy dished out 17 assists to go with 15 digs. Emma Kalamperovic recorded 10 assists, Hannah Kreutz recorded 2 aces and Addi Daigler 10 digs.

Mordasiewicz, Harvey, Paesma, Nash, Kilroy and Daigler are all seniors who led the charge into the 4A’s final eight.

Despite a higher loss total than some sectional-mates, Loyola (25-15), which also dealt with significant injuries, earned the Schaumburg Sectional’s top seed based on its rugged strength of schedule. The Ramblers competed in the Red Division of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference, wherein five out of six teams posted at least 25 wins — Mother McAuley (36-4), Marist (33-5), Benet Academy (27-11), St. Laurence (28-9) and Loyola.

A full-strength Loyola then won the sectional without dropping a set.

Ebeling said the tide turned on the season when the Ramblers swept Benet Academy, a perennial state power, in a midseason tournament.

“We beat them in two without Karolina,” he said. “That’s when girls started believing and we started getting on a little bit of a roll. We still competed and lost some matches, but they were like, ‘Hey, we can beat anybody.’ Belief and momentum.”

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