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Volleyball Finishes Chicagoland Classic
EVANSTON, Ill. The DePaul volleyball team closed out the Chicagoland Classic with a 3-0 (30-21, 30-24, 30-24) loss to Loyola-Chicago, Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Blue Demons start the season 0-2 while Loyola improves to 1-1. Freshmen Jacie Fielder and Kate Letcher led the DePaul offense as they both finished with double-digit kill totals. Fiedler led all players with 14 kills and was extremely efficient from the middle as she committed just four errors on 29 attempts. Letcher was second on the floor with 11 and Loyola's Sarah Singer also had 11 kills. The Blue Demon freshmen duo were also each credited with two block assists. Attack errors plagued DePaul in first set as it committed 13 errors in its 30-21 game one loss. On the other hand Loyola hit a fiery .312 and found the floor on 13 of 32 attempts. Letcher paced the floor with five kills while Loyola's Mallory Curran and Fielder each tallied four kills. Fielder and Letcher continued to push the Blue Demons' offense in game two. Fielder led the field with seven kills and Letcher was responsible for the Blue Demons four other kills in the second set. DePaul found themselves down 6-14, before freshman Caroline Gajzler served up three consecutive points and a service error by the Ramblers pulled DePaul within five at 16-11. The Blue Demons continued to chip away at the Rambler lead and pulled within one on a service ace by Charla Drabant at the 17-18 mark. The two teams traded points before Loyola went on a 12-6 run to close out the second game, 30-24. Game three saw the Blue Demons improve their offense as they terminated 13 balls, but Loyola was able to take its momentum from games one and two and won the final set 30-24. The two teams traded points in the early part of the game. Tied at 11, the Ramblers strung together a 6-1 run to put the game and match away. Singer led all players and the Ramblers with six kills. DePaul freshman setter Christy Landschoot recorded 28 assists while leading the squad with nine digs. Fielder was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Blue Demons with a .286 attack percentage and 23 kills over the weekend. The Blue Demons return to action next weekend when they travel to Colorado for the Denver Invitational. DePaul opens the invite on Friday, August 31 with Wichita State at 6 p.m. (CST) and then face Denver and Auburn on Saturday.
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