CHICAGO -

Final Score: No. 8 Loyola 3, Harvard 0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-14)
Records: Loyola (3-2); Harvard (0-2)
Location: Gentile Arena -- Chicago, Ill.
Stats: Box Score  | Season Stats 

In Short
Loyola University Chicago hit .407 (44-11-81) as a team and four players totaled seven or more kills as the Ramblers rolled to a 26-24, 25-17, 25-14 victory over Harvard (0-2) this afternoon at Gentile Arena. With the win, Loyola improves to 3-2 on the season.

How It Happened
Consecutive kills by Ben Plaisted broke up a back-and-forth start to the opening set and triggered a 4-0 Loyola run that gave the Ramblers a 14-10 advantage. Harvard would chip away at the deficit and eventually took a 24-23 lead before Loyola staged a comeback as the Crimson served for set point. Jeff Jendryk’s kill sparked the Ramblers’ set-closing 3-0 run that also featured a block from Jendryk and Collin Mahan and a Harvard error.

Loyola jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the second set and after the Crimson cut the gap to 14-11, the Ramblers recorded three straight tallies to extend their lead to 17-11 and never looked back as they coasted to a 25-17 victory.

The Ramblers took control of set three when they ripped off five unanswered points, two of which came courtesy of service aces from Plaisted, to grab hold of a 15-10 lead. That advantage would swell to as many as 10 points (24-14) and Dane Leclair finished off the sweep with an ace as Loyola bounced back from last night’s heartbreaking loss to No. 5 Pepperdine.

Inside The Box Score
- Loyola has now won 37 consecutive home matches versus unranked opponents.
- Paul Narup totaled a team-high 10 kills and hit .643 (10-1-14) to pace the Rambler attack.
- Plaisted finished with nine kills and eight digs and Mahan and Jendryk added seven kills apiece.
- Casey White notched seven kills to lead Harvard.

Up Next
Loyola hits the road for the first time in 2017 next week when it travels to Penn State (Jan. 19) and George Mason (Jan. 21).