March 17, 2012
Final Stats
CHICAGO - On a day for celebrating the senior class, veteran players dominated the scoreboard as the Loyola men's volleyball team blasted Limestone in straight sets by scores of 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 this afternoon at Gentile Arena. With the win, the Ramblers improve to 12-10 overall and the Saints drop to 10-7.
At the beginning of the first set, consecutive kills by Derek Daley gave Limestone its first lead of the match at 10-11 and forced Loyola to take a timeout. The Saints extended their lead with an ace. Loyola rebounded with kills from Mike Bunting and Domenic DeWaele to take back the lead at 20-19. Dainis Berzins notched three of the final four points to close out the set 25-22.
The teams traded points early in the second set before Loyola found an opportunity to stretch out to a 17-12 lead. At 13-12, Bunting began to serve for a four-point run, notching two service aces and a kill along the way. The Ramblers executed a second four-point run late in the game with a combined block from Dewaele and Steve Thompson, another Bunting kill, and two attack errors from the Saints, pushing the game to 23-15. After three service errors in a row, Dewaele put at end to the match with a slider from the outside.
Mirick kick-started the third and final set with two consecutive service aces to help the Ramblers run out to a 5-0 lead. Limestone worked its way back into the game with kills from Daley and Kevin Hart but were only able to come within two (8-6) before Bunting tallied two more service aces to take another commanding lead at 11-6. Limestone and Loyola went back and forth into the twenties. At the 22-16 mark, a block from Thompson and Joseph Smalzer started the trail to the finish and a Berzins kill set the score at 23-17. Thompson and Joseph Smalzer sandwiched a pair of kills to put the exclamation point on the match and take the third set 25-20.
Berzins continued his outstanding play this week, hitting for a career-best .643 percentage and 10 kills on the match. Bunting finished with a team-high 12 kills while also leading the team in digs with five. Thompson hit for an impressive .700 average, notching eight kills and Dewaele collected seven, five in the first set. Mirick and J.J. Pincoski split duties as the setter and gathered 22 and 16 assists, respectively. The team worked together to tally a total of seven service aces against the Saints, four of those coming from the hands of Bunting.
The Ramblers will return to conference action next Tuesday when they host rival Ball State at Gentile Arena. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CST.
