Final Stats | Box Score

PROVO, Utah -- The Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team dropped its first match of the AVCA Showcase on Friday night, as the No. 3 Ramblers fell to No. 1 BYU, 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25). With the loss, Loyola drops to 0-2 while the Cougars start the season with a 1-0 record. Loyola hit .196 over four sets, an improvement from last Sunday's season opener, but service errors once again plagued the Ramblers throughout the match.

Ricky Gevis led the Ramblers with a career-high 14 kills to go along with three service aces, another career-high. Nicholas Olson tallied nine kills on 16 swings to post a .500 hitting clip, also adding five blocks and two service aces, while Trevor Novotny recorded eight kills and nine digs. Jake Selsky anchored the back row, as the sophomore tallied a match-high 11 digs.

After battling back-and-forth to begin set one, BYU fired back-to-back kills to take a 15-12 lead. The Ramblers then rallied to score three of the next four points, including kills from Gevis and Novotny, along with a service ace from Hutz, to cut the Cougar lead to one point. However, BYU then scored three unanswered points to increase the lead to 19-15, forcing Loyola to use a timeout. Despite a pair of kills from Novotny, BYU managed to increase the lead to 22-17, and the Cougars went on to take set one, 25-19. BYU outhit Loyola .667 to .228 in the first set, while both teams struggled at the line to combine for 12 service errors.

The two teams traded points to begin set two before Loyola scored back-to-back, including a block from Jendryk and Cole Murray, to take its first lead of the match at 4-3. The two teams then battled back-and-forth, with Olson leading the Ramblers and scoring four of Loyola's next five points, as the senior fired three kills to go along with one service ace. The teams continued to trade the lead back-and-forth before BYU fired back-to-back kills to take a 23-22 lead, forcing a Loyola timeout. The Ramblers then rallied out of the timeout to score the final three points of the set behind a Gevis/Olson block, a Novotny service ace and a Gevis kill to win it, 25-23.

Loyola took an early 5-3 lead in set three behind kills from Gevis and Novotny, but BYU then scored four straight points to take a 7-5 lead. Despite kills from Gevis, Novotny and Jendryk, the Cougars held on to the steady lead until a four-point run upped the score to 18-12, forcing Loyola to use both timeouts during the stretch. Gevis led Loyola the rest of the way, tallying four kills and a service ace, but the Cougars held on to claim set three, 25-19.

The fourth set began with the teams trading points until BYU scored three straight to take a 13-9 lead, forcing Loyola to use a timeout. The Ramblers then managed to score three of the next four points, including a kill from Will Tischler and a Gevis service ace, to cut the Cougar lead to 14-12. Loyola continued to rally, eventually tying the set at 16-16 before a three-point BYU run put the Cougars on top, 19-16. Despite kills from Olson and Jendryk, BYU went on to win set four, 25-19, and claim the overall victory.

Loyola wraps up action at the AVCA Showcase on Saturday with a matchup against No. 2 UC Irvine at 5:30 p.m. CT. The Anteaters enter the match with a 1-0 record after sweeping No. 14 George Mason earlier on Friday.