Women's volleyball wins home opener

By Kyle Anderson Staff Writer

The women's volleyball team won its home opener in the newly renovated Reitz Arena Tuesday night against Morgan State. The Greyhounds swept the Bears by scores of 25-22, 25-11, and 25-15, improving their record, now 2-6.

The women had not even practiced in Reitz Arena thus far in the 2008 season, but were definitely glad to be home, as evidenced by their dominating victory.

"There was definitely a confidence difference being at home," said Pennewill. "You have to have the attitude that you deserve to win, and we had that tonight."

Loyola jumped out of the gates with a 7-1 lead in the first set, but Morgan State evened the score at 14-14. The Greyhounds regained the lead, however, thanks to a pair of blocks by junior Karlee Woodward.

Loyola won the closely contested first game with a kill by sophomore Nina Camaioni. Camaioni led both teams with seven kills, but attributes the victory to Loyola's teamwork.

"We all played well; it was definitely a team effort," said Camaioni. "We couldn't have gotten the kills without the great passes and sets."

Loyola's momentum carried into the second game due to the serving of sophomores Brittany Born and Camaioni. The Greyhounds closed the second game with a kill by junior Nicole Scimeme, giving them a 25-11 win.

Morgan State opened the third game with two points, but their lead was short lived, as junior Stasia Collins recorded two kills and Born served two aces.

Loyola built its lead throughout the third game, and senior Christina Greenup ended the match with her second kill of the night.

Loyola's stifling defense was led by Woodward, who recorded seven blocks. Overall, coach Pennewill was impressed by the team's play, but realizes there is always room for improvement.

"We must continue to execute the fundamentals and then go from there," said Pennewill. "Our blocking and hitting were strong, but we can still work on our service errors."

Senior Samantha Greenbaum recorded a double-double with 15 assists and 10 digs.

Later in the week, the women traveled to the NJIT Tournament in Newark, NJ, where they played Sacred Heart on Friday, followed by matches on Saturday against UMBC and NJIT, respectively.

In the first match, Loyola was defeated by Sacred Heart 25-17, 25-16, 25-17.

Thanks in part to a kill by senior Rachel Schillinger, Loyola jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the first game. However, Loyola was unable to maintain the lead as Sacred Heart's defense forced several Greyhound errors, giving Sacred Heart a 15-10 lead.

Once again, the strong Loyola attack, led by Schillinger, helped the Greyhounds take an 8-6 lead. Unfortunately, Sacred Heart had another long rally in which they scored 12 of 14 straight points.

Sacred Heart's strong defense did not waiver in the third game, as the only lead Loyola possessed came at 2-1. Despite the tough loss, the silver lining could be found in Schillinger's seven kills and Woodward's five blocks.

The Hounds opened their day on Saturday with a 3-0 loss to UMBC, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21.

Later in the day, Loyola rebounded from a tough loss to a nail-biting win in a five game match against NJIT. Loyola won by a score of 17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-18, 15-13, improving their record to 3-8.

Camaioni led the potent Greyhound attack with 17 kills and also posted 32 digs. Both totals are season highs for the exciting sophomore.

Woodward and Collins both had excellent games as each totaled 13 kills. The duo also played excellent defense: Woodward had six blocks, while Collins had four blocks and 13 digs. Born helped the defense with 21 digs of her own.

The Greyhounds found themselves down 2 games to 1, but were able to rally early in the fourth game to take a 6-1 lead. Once again, great serving by Born helped Loyola take an early lead.

NJIT made a run of its own, and only trailed 18-13. The Greyhound attack of Woodward, Camaioni, and Schillinger proved too strong for NJIT, however, as the Greyhounds forced a fifth game.

Loyola took an early lead in the fifth game, but allowed NJIT to crawl their way back in as the scored was tied 11-11. The two teams continued to exchange leads until several costly errors by NJIT gave Loyola the five game victory.

Junior Kristen Muscarella recorded an impressive 46 assists, while the team recorded 93 digs.

The Greyhounds start MAAC play next weekend, as they face off against Iona Saturday in New York City.