Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score
NEWARK, N.J. - Coming off a hard-fought win at No. 15 George Mason last night, the Loyola men's volleyball team was back at it Saturday afternoon at Rutgers-Newark, defeating the Scarlet Raiders, 3-1 (30-23, 31-33, 31-29, 30-28). The Ramblers remain perfect at 3-0, while Rutgers-Newark falls to 0-2. Junior Krisjanis Berzins collected his second consecutive double-double with a match-high 19 kills, 11 digs and five assisted blocks.
Loyola displayed its best hitting performance in the opening game, with a .360 (13-4-25) attack percentage to accompany the only game decided by more than two points. The Ramblers jumped out to a 10-7 lead on a Scarlet Raider service error, before the hosts eventually evened the score at 13 apiece. The game remained close down the stretch, until Loyola went in front 23-18 after several attack errors by Rutgers-Newark and a kill from Berzins, as the Scarlet Raiders never got closer than three points. Two straight plays of block assists by the Ramblers sealed the 30-23 victory.
The Scarlet Raiders regrouped in the second game, going ahead by as much as six, 8-2, in the early going. Kills by juniors Michael Morice, George Kamberos, Berzins and freshman Domenic Dewaele contributed to the Rambler rally that eventually evened the score at 11. The two teams exchanged points throughout the rest of the match, with no lead surpassing three points, but an untimely attack error on Loyola would give Rutgers-Newark the 33-31 win.
Morice notched four of his match-high five service aces in the third game, as he helped the Ramblers build a 12-7 lead early on and Loyola eventually went up by six on three different occasions. The Scarlet Raiders rallied each time, however, ultimately tying the game at 29. But that was all they would get, as Berzins tallied a kill the next play and a service ace by redshirt sophomore Michael Hutz secured the win, 31-29.
Similar to game two, the two teams were neck-and-neck through most of the fourth game. With the score even at 18, freshman Mike Bunting served the next three points for Loyola, which took the lead for good. The Scarlet Raiders were within one at 29-28, but Berzins tallied his 19th kill to claim the 30-28 victory.
Bunting recorded 16 kills and two service aces, while senior Nick Lamoureux added 13 kills and five assisted blocks and Hutz tallied a match-high 56 assists, three service aces and one solo block. Morice and freshman Ryan Mullsteff each had four kills and Mullsteff also contributed three assisted blocks and one solo block. Redshirt freshman Tommy Becker recorded a team-high 15 digs for Loyola.
The Ramblers return to action Jan. 30 in their first MIVA match of the season at IPFW beginning at 6 p.m.
