April 24, 2014
CHICAGO - One week after being named 2014 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Player of the Year, Loyola University Chicago sophomore Thomas Jaeschke (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) has earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) First Team All-America honors, announced by the organization this afternoon. Jaeschke becomes just third member of a select group, joining James Grunst and Chris Kozlarek (both in 2006) as the only Ramblers to earn first team all-american accolades.
In addition to Jaeschke, three other Ramblers earned Honorable Mention All-America honors, as senior Joe Smalzer (Chicago, Ill./Marist), junior Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif./Harbor) and sophomore Nick Olson (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) were recognized.
For Jaeschke, the honor comes after a terrific regular season in which he established himself as one of the most efficient outside hitters in the college game. A model of consistency, Jaeschke has recorded double-digit kills in 17 of his 22 appearances so far this season, saving some of his best performances for big matches. He ripped a career-best 19 kills in wins over Penn State, Ohio State and IPFW and posted 18 put-aways both at Lewis and in a home win over BYU.
Jaeschke is joined on the first team by Taylor Averill (Hawaii), Michael Brinkley (UC Irvine), Micah Christenson (USC), Brian Cook (Stanford), Taylor Crabb (Long Beach State), Geoff Powell (Lewis), Gonzalo Quiroga (UCLA), Aaron Russell (Penn State) and Taylor Sander (BYU).
A second team selection each of the previous two seasons, Smalzer earned honorable mention accolades this season. The Chicago native is second on the team in kills (269, 3.16 kps) and leads the nation in service aces this season and will end his career fourth on Loyola's all-time list in kills while owning the career aces record by a wide margin.
The emergence of Caldwell has been one of the keys for Loyola this season. He has recorded double-digit kills 12 times, eight of which have come in LU's last 10 matches, highlighted by a 24-kill, 16-dig effort in a win over Ball State and a 21-kill, eight-dig, five-block stat line in the Ramblers' home win over Lewis.
Balancing all the firepower on the outside is Olson, who earns national recognition for the first time. One of the tallest players in school history, Olson has given the Ramblers production both offensively and defensively in the middle. He opened the season with eight kills and nine blocks in LU's win over UC Irvine and blasted eight kills in 10 swings last night as the Ramblers dispatched IPFW in the MIVA semifinals.
The quartet's individual success has been just a part of Loyola's overall success as a team this season, as the Ramblers have enjoyed their perch atop the national rankings for 10 consecutive weeks, the first time in school history that they have earned the No. 1 ranking.
Loyola (26-1) puts its school-record, 24-match winning streak on the line on Saturday night when it hosts No. 11 Lewis in the title match of the MIVA Championship. First serve from Gentile Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which Loyola will host April 29-May 3. Limited tickets are still available for that event and can be purchased online through Loyola's website (www.loyolaramblers.com) or by calling the ticket office at (773) 508-WOLF (9653).
