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CHICAGO - The No. 1 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team swept Sacred Heart (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) on Friday night to improve to 6-0 on the season. Freshman Ben Plaisted led the Ramblers with a match-high 12 kills, while Nick Olson added seven kills and seven blocks. Loyola racked up a .484 hitting percentage while limiting the Pioneers to .208.

Loyola opened the match with a 5-1 run behind two kills from Cody Caldwell and a string of Sacred Heart errors. The two teams battled back-and-forth until the Ramblers scored three unanswered points, a kill from Plaisted and back-to-back service aces from Jeff Jendryk, to take a 14-9 lead and force a Sacred Heart timeout. The Ramblers maintained the steady lead behind kills from Caldwell, Plaisted, Jendryk and Thomas Jaeschke, followed by a block by Caldwell and Olson to make the score 21-15. Loyola was able to hold on to the lead and win the set 25-17 behind a .526 hitting percentage.

The second set began with Sacred Heart jumping out to a 4-1 lead, but kills from Olson and Plaisted pulled the Ramblers to within one point. The Pioneers responded with a 3-0 run to increase the lead to 8-5, but the Ramblers were able to score two of the next three points as Jaeschke fired two kills. The teams traded points back-and-forth until the Ramblers put together a 3-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. Loyola closed out the set behind a kill from Olson, a Plaisted service ace and back-to-back blocks from Olson and Peter Hutz to win it 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead.

Plaisted got things rolling in the third set, firing three kills en route to a 5-3 Loyola lead. A string of errors by the Ramblers gave Sacred Heart a 7-6 lead but a kill from Caldwell, followed by back-to-back kills by Jaeschke and Jendryk, tied the set at 9-9. The teams traded points until a 3-0 Loyola run, led by back-to-back kills from Caldwell and Jaeschke and a block by Jendryk and Jaeschke, gave the Ramblers an 18-15 lead. The Ramblers were able to maintain the lead, and a kill from Olson sealed the victory as Loyola won the set 25-21. The Ramblers recorded a match-high .560 hitting percentage in the final set while holding the Pioneers to .200.

The Ramblers return to Gentile Arena tomorrow night for a matchup against Barton College at 7 p.m.