April 15, 2009

Box Score

CHICAGO - The fifteenth-ranked Loyola men's volleyball team claimed the first two games of the match, before having its lead erased as Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival No. 12 Lewis rallied back to even the score at two games apiece. The Ramblers were able to hold on in the fifth game, however, to take the match, 3-2 (30-28, 30-26, 24-30, 28-30, 15-11) Wednesday night in Alumni Gym. Loyola improves to 15-9 (4-5 MIVA), while the Flyers fall to 20-7 (6-3).

The Ramblers rallied back from an early 12-8 Lewis lead in the first game, using a 3-0 run behind a Flyer service error, kill by Nick Lamoureux and a service ace by Domenic Dewaele to even the score at 13. The two teams battled back and forth over the next several plays, before Loyola took a late 25-22 lead on a kill by Mike Bunting. The Flyers would come as close as one at 28-27, but the Ramblers held them off with kills by Dewaele and Bunting to help seal the 30-28 opening game victory.

Loyola wasted no time in round two, racing out to leads of 11-5 and 17-12, while Lewis gradually chipped away at the deficit. A 4-0 run late in the game by the Flyers allowed them to pull within a point (25-24), before a kill by Dewaele extended the advantage back to two. A Loyola service error followed, but that was as close as Lewis would get, as kills by Dewaele, Michael Morice and Krisjanis Berzins helped propel Loyola to the 30-26 win.

The score was knotted at 11 before the Flyers took the lead for good in the third game. An attack error by Lewis brought Loyola within three at 20-17, but that was as close as it would get, as the Flyers cruised to a 30-24 victory in round three.

The two teams exchanged points early in the fourth game, until Lewis began to pull away with a 3-0 run to take a 17-13 advantage. Several plays later, a 4-0 run by the Flyers extended the lead to 21-15, though Loyola battled back to cut the deficit to one at 25-24, before eventually evening the score at 28 behind kills from Berzins and George Kamberos. Lewis would answer with two straight kills, however, to force a fifth game with a 30-28 win.

The battled continued in the final game, as the score remained even through the first 10 points. A kill by Berzins gave Loyola an 11-10 advantage, which was quickly erased with a kill by the Flyers. But the Ramblers would respond with four straight points keyed by two kills by Berzins and two Lewis errors to take the fifth game, 15-11.

Berzins recorded a match-high 25 kills, eight digs and team-best .575 (25-2-40) hitting percentage, while Dewaele added 16 kills and six block assists and Bunting tallied 11 kills and three digs. Lamoureux and Morice each also posted six block assists, while Kyle Exline dished out 48 assists and seven digs and Derek Jensen contributed a match-best 11 digs for the Ramblers.

Loyola concludes the regular season with its final MIVA match of the season against IPFW Friday night beginning at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym.