DAYTON, Ohio – Third-seeded Loyola Chicago claimed its second Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship title in the last three years with a decisive 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) win over top-seeded Dayton Sunday at Frericks Center.

The Ramblers (21-11) clinch the A-10’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Loyola Chicago also won the league crown their first year in the league, 2022. Dayton (29-2), ranked No. 18 in the country with a 14 RPI ranking await a potential NCAA at-large bid.

Loyola was hot from the first set, score 10 of the first 12 points, with All-Championship Team selections Ann Marie Remmes, Esma Ajanovic and Olivia Lovett each contributing multiple kills and blocks during the run. The Ramblers carried that momentum to a set one win.

Bree Borum, Loyola Chicago’s setter, had 28 assists and 10 digs for a double-double, and added eight kills and hit .300 and was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player.

The second set was a battle throughout, and trailing by one at 20-19, the Ramblers reeled off five of the next six points on kills from Avary DeBlieck, Lovett and Remmes to reach set point at 24-21. Blocks by Alyssa Miller and Liana Sarkissian brought the Flyers back within one, but Remmes gave LUC a 2-0 lead with a set-ending kill.

Dayton was in the drivers seat early in the decisive third set, and held a four point lead at 16-12. But a Ramblers’ 8-1 run tied it at 17 on a block by Ajanovic and DeBlieck and then proved Loyola with a 20-17 lead. Ajanovic had three kills and a block with Remmes to set up match point, which Lovett finished off with a kill.

Lexie Almodovar, the A-10 Player of the Year, led all hitters with 15 kills to earn All-Championship. Liana Sarkissian also earned All-Championship with eight kills and three blocks, hitting .333.

Lovett equaled Borum for the team lead in kills with eight while Ajanovic matched Borum’s digs with 10. Remmes had a match-high five blocks.

All-Championship Team
Lexie Almodovar, Dayton
Liana Sarkissian, Dayton
Alayna Yates, Dayton
Esma Ajanovic, Loyola Chicago
Bree Borum, Loyola Chicago
Olivia Lovett, Loyola Chicago
Ann Marie Remmes, Loyola Chicago
 
Most Outstanding Player
Bree Borum, Loyola Chicago