Final Stats | Box Score

CHICAGO - No. 2 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball took down Windsor 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 15-9) in Saturday's exhibition matchup. The Ramblers squared off against the Lancers for just the third time in program history, improving their series record to 3-0 with Saturday's victory.

The Ramblers got off to a 3-0 start in the first set before the Lancers racked up four straight points to take an early 4-3 lead. The two teams battled back and forth until the Ramblers began pulling away after kills from Derek Guimond, Owen McAndrews and Thomas Jaeschke, going on a 5-0 run to take a 15-11 lead. The Lancers pulled to within two points, cutting Loyola's lead to 17-15, but back-to-back kills from Cody Caldwell increased the Ramblers' lead once again. The Ramblers ended on a 6-3 run to win the first set 25-18.

The second set began with the two teams trading points until the Ramblers took a 7-3 lead. The 4-0 run began with kills from Caldwell and Jaeschke, followed by back-to-back blocks from freshman Jeff Jendryk. The two teams continued to battle back and forth until a Lancer attack error and kills by Caldwell and Jaeschke increased the Ramblers' lead to 13-7. After trading points, Caldwell responded to three unanswered Windsor points with back-to-back points of his own, recording a kill and a service ace to make the score 19-12 in favor of the Ramblers. Although Windsor put together a pair of 3-0 runs late, the Ramblers were able to maintain the lead, winning the second set 25-21.

After starting the third set with an attack error, freshman Ricky Gevis responded with a kill to tie the score at 1-1. The two teams continued to battle back and forth until a kill by Caldwell and a Windsor attack error gave the Ramblers a 13-11 lead. The Lancers responded with three unanswered points to take a 14-13 lead, and, despite kills from Caldwell, Jendryk and Owen McAndrews, managed to pull away and win the set 19-25.

The fourth set began with the teams trading points until a 4-0 Windsor run brought the score to 5-8 in favor of the Lancers. After another back-and-forth battle, Loyola scored three unanswered points, led by kills from Ben Plaisted, Ryan Jamison and McAndrews, to pull within one. The Ramblers continued to chip away at the Windsor lead until Trevor Novotny scored back-to-back points, a kill and a block, to put the Ramblers up 13-12. After a service error, the Ramblers bounced back to score three straight points and take a 16-13 lead, but the Lancers responded with a run of their own to tie the game at 19-19. The two teams scored four points apiece to bring the score to 23-23, but Windsor was able to put together back-to-back points and win the set 23-25.

The Ramblers came into the fifth and final set with renewed energy and managed to jump out to a 9-3 lead. Jendryk and junior Diego Rodriguez led the charge, with the freshman recording two kills and a block, while Rodriguez racked up a kill, a block and two assists during the stretch. The Ramblers continued to pull away and ultimately won the set 15-9 with a game high .600 hitting percentage, allowing Windsor to hit a mere -.286.

The Ramblers kick off the regular season next weekend in Palo Alto, California, taking on No. 6 BYU before facing No. 10 Stanford in a rematch of last year's NCAA final. The team returns to Gentile Arena on Jan. 17 to square off against Harvard. The game will also feature the raising of the 2014 NCAA Championship banner.