Box Score

ST. CHARLES - In the final road game of the regular season, the No. 5 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team swept Lindenwood, 25-22, 25-23, 26-24. With the win, the Ramblers improve to 12-2 in MIVA play and 20-2 overall. Thomas Jaeschke led a balanced Loyola offense, firing a match-high 14 kills while Ben Plaisted and Jeff Jendryk added 10 and eight, respectively.

The Ramblers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in set one behind a pair of kills from Jaeschke, along with one apiece from Trevor Novotny and Jendryk. The teams then battled back-and-forth until Loyola scored three unanswered points, back-to-back kills from Plaisted and one from Jaeschke, to take a 16-10 lead and force a Lindenwood timeout. The Lions rallied out of the timeout, scoring eight of the next 12 points to cut Loyola's lead to two and force the Ramblers to use a timeout. The teams then traded points until a kill from Owen McAndrews ended the set, 25-22, giving Loyola a 1-0 overall lead.

The Lions committed three straight errors to begin set two, giving Loyola an early 3-0 lead. The Ramblers continued to build on the lead until back-to-back points, a Lindenwood error and a block by Jendryk and Peter Hutz, made the score 11-6 and forced a Lions timeout. Lindenwood scored the first three points out of the timeout, and the teams continued to battle back-and-forth until the Lions pulled to within one, cutting Loyola's lead to 19-18. The Ramblers responded with a 3-0 run, including kills from Jendryk and McAndrews, to increase the lead to 22-18 and cause Lindenwood to use its second and final timeout. After an attack error out of the timeout, the Lions scored three straight points to make the score 23-21. The teams then traded points until a Lindenwood service error gave Loyola the second-set victory, 25-23.

The third set began with the teams battling back-and-forth until a Lindenwood service ace and back-to-back Novotny kills gave Loyola an 11-8 lead, forcing a Lions timeout. Lindenwood managed to tie the set at 15-15, but Trevor Novotny scored two straight points, a kill and a block with Jendryk, to put the Ramblers back on top, 17-15. However, the Lions rallied to score three unanswered points and take an 18-17 lead, forcing a Loyola timeout. The teams traded points back-and-forth until a Lindenwood error gave Loyola a 25-24 lead, then Plaisted fired a kill to give Loyola the 26-24 set three victory and the overall sweep.

The Ramblers wrap up the regular season next weekend with a pair of games at Gentile Arena. On Friday, April 17, Loyola will host McKendree on Senior Night before squaring off against No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday, April 18.