Box Score

MUNCIE - The No. 2 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team swept Ball State for the second time this season on Saturday, defeating the Cardinals in a 25-19, 25-18, 25-17 sweep. After missing Thursday's game against IPFW, Thomas Jaeschke picked up right where he left off and led the Ramblers with a match-high 16 kills, only committing two errors to compile a .519 hitting percentage. Cody Caldwell added 12 kills to go along with eight digs and three block assists.

Loyola scored three of the first four points to begin the first set behind a pair of kills from Caldwell and one from Ben Plaisted. The Ramblers increased the lead to 5-2 after a Jaeschke kill and a block by Nicholas Olson and Caldwell before three straight Cardinal errors gave Loyola an 8-3 lead, forcing a Ball State timeout. Loyola rallied out of the timeout to score three of the next four points, led by a pair of kills from Olson and one from Caldwell, to take an 11-4 lead. Loyola maintained the steady lead until the Ramblers scored three straight points, a pair of Cardinal errors and a kill from Jeff Jendryk, to take a 22-13 lead and force another Ball State timeout. The Cardinals responded by scoring six of the next nine points, but kills from Jendryk, Caldwell and Olson ended the set at 25-19, giving Loyola the 1-0 lead.

The second set began with the two teams trading points until Loyola scored three unanswered, a Jaeschke block, a Caldwell kill and a Cardinal error, to take an 11-9 lead and force a Ball State timeout. The teams then battled back-and-forth until the Ramblers put together another 3-0 run, led by kills from Jaeschke and Plaisted and a block by Peter Hutz, to increase the lead to 20-14. The Ramblers scored three of the next four points, led by two blocks and a kill from Jendryk, to take a 23-15 lead before a Caldwell kill ended the set, 25-18.

The teams battled back-and-forth to begin the third set until three kills, two from Caldwell and one from Jaeschke, gave Loyola a 12-8 lead and forced a Ball State timeout. The teams continued to trade points until back-to-back points from Plaisted, a kill and a service ace, gave the Ramblers a 20-16 advantage and forced another Cardinal timeout. After a service error, the Ramblers rallied to score the next five straight points, including two blocks and two Jaeschke kills, to win the third set 25-17 and claim the overall victory.

The Ramblers are back in action on Wednesday with a rematch against No. 4 Lewis in Romeoville. They Flyers handed Loyola its first loss in 40 games on March 9, defeating the Ramblers 3-1 inside Gentile Arena to snap a 40-game win streak.