Service woes, Loyola Chicago snap No. 24 BYU volleyball's tourney streak

PROVO — Loyola Chicago served up an upset to make program history to open the 2024 NCAA women's volleyball tournament.

Fifth-seeded BYU could only serve 10 errors.

Marta Cvitkovic had 13 kills, and Esma Ajanovic added 10 kills as the Ramblers swept the 24th-ranked Cougars 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Claire Little had nine kills and eight digs, and freshman Alex Bower dished out 30 assists with 10 digs for the Cougars, who saw their run of 14 consecutive wins in the first round of the tournament snapped Thursday afternoon.

BYU's Kjersti Strong finished her collegiate career with 50 solo blocks, including eight kills and five stuffs in the loss. Freshman Elli Mortensen added seven kills, six digs and three blocks for BYU (19-10), which hit .164 — its second-lowest mark of the season and lowest since hitting .103 in a 3-0 loss at in-state rival Utah back on Nov. 8.

Sitting next to Bower and middle blocker Brielle Kemavor, the sophomore from Bristow, Virginia, who had seven kills and two blocks, moments after meeting with her team following the loss, BYU coach Heather Olmstead encouraged each player — including the five of six returning starters to sit in the pain they felt Thursday afternoon and let it boost them through the offseason ahead.

"Alex and BK have been phenomenal leaders all year. I don't think either of them are satisfied with what just happened," Olmstead said. "I told each of them, this is an opportunity to learn and grow, to take it on the chin, to sit in our pain, and to be grateful for the pain that we get to feel together.

"We know that our worth comes from more than just winning and losing, and we've learned that this year. We're not going to be defined by a match or a performance … but we expect to show up in the tournament and play better. They know that, and we don't have to say that.

"The strength of our team has been our team," she added, "and our team just didn't have it today."

Bree Borum's block capped a 5-0 run with a block to give the Ramblers a 17-14 lead in the first set. Ajanovic stretched the lead to 21-15 after back-to-back BYU hitting errors, and Avary DeBlieck posted consecutive kills to give Loyola Chicago a 23-17 advantage late in the first set.

Strong hit one of her team-high five kills to pull the Cougars within 23-20, but the Ramblers took advantage of a service error to win on Sam Falk's ace for the 25-20 first-set victory.

BYU hit just 0.162 in the opening set with a 52% sideout rate with two service errors and just 12 digs and two blocks in the opening set.

It didn't get much better as Loyola built a 2-0 lead.

Cvitkovic had seven kills, and BYU served six errors in the second set — and hit just .209 — en route to the Ramblers' 25-21 win.

Loyola (22-11) held BYU to just eight kills with five hitting errors and one ace in a 25-17 win in the third set that capped the Ramblers' sweep for their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

BYU had a season-high 11 aces in a 3-1 win over Kansas State in the regular-season finale. But the Cougars could muster just two aces with 10 errors from the service line, and converted just 56.8% of sideouts in what was a first-time tournament experience for most of the roster.

"We're not satisfied," said Bower, the latest in a line of BYU volleyball players that includes older sister Whitney — the Cougars' all-time assist leader in the rally scoring era. "But what's important is our response and our reaction to this.

"I can guarantee you we're going to be the hardest working team you'll see next year and this spring," she added. "We'll get back at it, and we're very grateful for this team. They're very selfless, and we're always getting better because of that."

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