Final Stats

GAME INFORMATION
Location: Worthen Arena - Muncie, Ind.
Final Score: No. 12 Ball State 3, No. 8 Loyola 1 (26-24, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23)
Records: Loyola (8-4, 3-2 MIVA); Ball State (10-3, 4-0 MIVA)
Stats: Box Score | Season Stats

In Short...
No. 8 Loyola fell to MIVA leader No. 12 Ball State on Wednesday night, as the Ramblers failed to complete the comeback after falling behind 2-0. With the loss, Loyola falls to 8-4 (3-2 MIVA) while the Cardinals improve to 10-3 overall and remain undefeated (4-0) in MIVA play.

Loyola led a balanced offense, with three Ramblers recording double-digit kills. Ricky Gevis notched a team-high 15 kills, followed by Trevor Novotny and Collin Mahan with 12 and 11, respectively. Despite recording eight more kills than Ball State, Loyola committed 11 more attack errors as the Cardinals outhit the Ramblers .204 to .160.

How it Happened...
The two teams traded points to begin set one until Loyola scored three unanswered, including a kill and a block assist from Jeff Jendryk, to take a 13-10 lead. Ball State rallied to eventually tie the set, and the teams traded points until the Cardinals scored back-to-back to take a 23-21 lead. A kill from Nick Olson capped a three-point run to give the Ramblers a 24-23 lead, but Ball State capitalized on three straight Loyola errors to take set one, 26-24.

The Ramblers raced out to an early 5-1 lead to begin set two, led by two kills and a block assist from Jendryk. Despite upping the lead to four points on two more occasions, the Cardinals managed to battle back and tie the score, eventually scoring five unanswered points to take a 22-20 lead. After Ball State took the 24-21 advantage, the Ramblers managed to fight off two set points, including a kill from Olson, but the Cardinals hung on to claim set two, 25-23.

After swapping points to open set three, Ricky Gevis and Collin Mahan combined for three kills to give Loyola a 15-12 lead. The Ramblers never surrendered the lead, going on to hit a match-high .303 en route to winning set three, 25-20. Collin Mahan and Ricky Gevis combined for nine kills, while the Rambler defense held the Cardinals to a .154 hitting clip, led by two blocks from Nick Olson and five digs from Jake Selsky.

Ball State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to begin set four and did not surrender the lead until a Gevis kill and a Novotny service ace capped a four-point Rambler run, giving Loyola the 12-10 advantage. The two teams then traded sideouts until Ball State scored three unanswered points to take a 21-20 lead. Despite kills from Gevis and Collin Mahan, the Cardinals held on to claim set four, 25-23, and defeat the Ramblers.

Inside the Numbers
- Loyola led a balanced attack, as five Ramblers tallied at least eight kills. Peter Hutz orchestrated the offense and accounted for 44 of the team's 53 assists, while Jake Selsky added a career-high five. - Hutz added a season-high 12 digs to notch his first double-double of the season. - Selsky's 13 digs match his career-high last set in January of 2015 - Loyola's 49 digs are the most in a single-match this season. - Loyola recorded eight more kills than Ball State, but tallied 11 more attack errors.

Up Next
The Ramblers travel to IPFW (4-7, 0-3 MIVA) on Saturday, Feb. 20 for a mid-afternoon matchup, slotted for a 2:00 p.m. start.