Final Stats

CHICAGO - The No. 4 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team defeated No. 10 Ohio State in four sets (25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17) on Wednesday night to advance to the MIVA Championship match for the third consecutive season. Cody Caldwell led the Ramblers with 14 kills, while Ricky Gevis added 13 to go along with seven blocks. Thomas Jaeschke was just one kill shy of recording his seventh double-double of the season, as the recently named MIVA Player of the Year tallied 10 digs and nine kills.

The match began with the two teams trading points back-and-forth until Loyola scored three unanswered, including a shared block by Jaeschke and Nicholas Olson and a Peter Hutz service ace, to take a 9-6 lead and force an Ohio State timeout. The Ramblers maintained the steady lead behind a string of Buckeye errors, along with an Olson service ace and a pair of kills from Caldwell, before a block by Jaeschke and Jeff Jendryk increased the Loyola lead to five. Loyola then scored six straight points, led by two kills apiece from Gevis and Caldwell, along with a Jaeschke service ace, to end set one, 25-16. The Ramblers recorded five blocks during the set en route to holding the Buckeyes to a mere .118 hitting percentage.

Ohio State scored the first three points of set two, and the teams then traded points until four kills from Gevis pulled the Ramblers to within one. Loyola was able to tie the game behind two kills from Jaeschke and a trio of Buckeye errors, but Ohio State then scored back-to-back points to take a 12-10 lead and force a Rambler timeout. The teams then battled back-and-forth, with kills from Gevis, Jaeschke and Caldwell keeping the Ramblers close, before a solo block from Gevis tied the game at 19-19. After a Caldwell kill out of the timeout gave the Ramblers a 20-19 lead, Jaeschke led Loyola the rest of the way, firing three kills before back-to-back Buckeye errors ended the set at 25-23.

After trading points to begin set three, Ohio State scored four straight to take a 9-6 lead and force a Loyola timeout. The Ramblers responded by scoring seven of the next ten points, including kills from Gevis and Caldwell and a Jendryk/Gevis block, to take a 13-12 lead, forcing the Buckeyes to use a timeout of their own. However, a 5-1 run put the Buckeyes back on top, and Ohio State went on to win set three, 25-21.

The Ramblers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set behind kills from Jaeschke and Jendryk, followed by back-to-back blocks from Hutz, Olson and Jaeschke, forcing Ohio State to call a timeout. Loyola continued to build on the lead, as kills from Caldwell and Gevis and a handful of Buckeye errors increased the score to 11-5, forcing Ohio State to use its second and final timeout. Olson, Caldwell and Gevis carried Loyola out of the timeout, combining for five kills and two blocks to allow the Ramblers to maintain the steady lead. After a pair of buckeye errors, a Caldwell kill and a service ace by Trevor Novotny increased the lead to 24-15, and the Ramblers went on to win the set 25-17 and claim the victory. Loyola committed just one attack error en route to tallying a .562 hitting percentage during the set. The Ramblers also recorded four blocks to hold Ohio State at .000.

With the win, the Ramblers advance to Friday night's MIVA title match at No. 1 Lewis, marking the third straight year that the in-state rivals have battled for the conference crown.