Boxscore (PDF)

CHICAGO (January 13, 2018)
 
In Short
No. 2 Long Beach State (6-0) hit a whopping .456 (37-6-68) to hand No. 7 Loyola University Chicago (2-2) a 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 loss tonight at Gentile Arena. Junior Collin Mahan led all players with 13 kills to spearhead Loyola's offense, which hit .256 (38-16-87) on the evening.
 
How It Happened
Long Beach State sprinted out to an 11-4 lead in the opening set and never looked back en route to a 25-15 victory, hitting a blistering .545 (13-1-22) to start the match.
 
Once again in set two, the 49ers grabbed hold of an early lead, going on top 8-3 before Loyola mounted a rally. Kills from Dane Leclair and Will Tischler bookended a 4-1 Loyola run that closed the gap to 9-7, but Long Beach State produced three of the next four tallies to bump its lead to 12-8. Later, a kill from Mahan closed the gap to 13-10, but the 49ers put the set out of reach with an 8-2 run that gave them a 21-12 edge.
 
Loyola dug itself a four-point hole (8-4) in the third set before putting together an impressive run of play to make things interesting. Mahan started the Rambler rally with a kill and added two more stops in an 8-5 surge to bring Loyola within a single point at 13-12. Long Beach answered with consecutive points, the second coming on a Kyle Ensing ace, however, and it would slowly build its advantage back to five (20-15) on its way to a 25-21 decision.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Mahan has totaled double-digit kills in eight of his last nine matches dating back to last season, including each of the first four of the 2018 campaign. He finished tonight with a .545 (13-1-22) hitting percentage.
• Jeff Jendryk hit .600 (7-1-10), while Ryan Jamison pitched in eight kills and six digs, to complement Mahan.
• Ensing led Long Beach State with 12 kills, while Nick Amado added nine.

Up Next
The Ramblers continue their nine-match homestand next weekend when they take on Grand View (Jan. 19) and Saint Francis (Jan. 20) at Gentile Arena.