April 2, 2006

Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - Senior outside hitter Nathan Gustus (Mount Prospect, Ill.) recorded 11 kills and a career-best 10 digs for his first collegiate double-double as No. 10 Loyola finished its East Coast weekend trip with a 3-0 (30-18, 30-24, 30-25) win at Mercyhurst Saturday afternoon in MIVA Shondell/Dunlap Division play. With the win, Loyola improves its record to 19-6 (9-1 MIVA) this season, while Mercyhurst drops to 3-20 (1-9) on the year.

Gustus tallied a season-best .500 hitting percentage (11-1-20) against the Lakers. Senior middle hitter Corey Kloos (Florissant, Mo.) added 11 kills with a .714 hitting clip (11-1-14) and freshman outside hitter Joe Guntli (St. Louis, Mo.) also recorded 11 kills. Senior opposite hitter Chris Kozlarek (Evergreen Park, Ill.) had 10 kills, while junior middle blocker James Grunst (Milwaukee, Wis.) posted nine kills and a season-high tying nine blocks (one solo, eight assisted). Junior setter Brian Guntli (St. Louis, Mo.) paced the Rambler offense to hit .505 in the match with 51 assists and senior libero John Thuet (St. Louis, Mo.) had 13 digs.

"I thought it was good win for our guys as far as following up after a big win at Ohio State," Loyola head coach Shane Davis said. "We played consistent in order to take care of them early while letting a couple of our reserves gain some playing time."

Mike Palaschak and Nate Keegan each recorded eight kills to lead Mercyhurst. Dan Kick produced 23 assists and five digs for the Lakers, while Dave Newman added three block assists and Jordan Pierson posted five digs. Loyola's defense held Mercyhurst to a .159 hitting clip. The Ramblers held advantages over the Lakers in kills (58-28), service aces (2-1), digs (39-17) and blocks (10.0-5.0).

Loyola returns to action with a key MIVA Shondell/Dunlap Division showdown at No. 11 IPFW on April 7 at 6 p.m.