Boxscore (PDF)

CHICAGO (January 27, 2018)
 
In Short
No. 7 Loyola University Chicago (6-2) hit a season-high .436 (56-12-101) for the match as it won for the fourth straight contest, defeating No. 9 CSUN (5-3), 26-24, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17 this afternoon at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers have knocked off four nationally ranked foes this season, including a pair of top 10 teams.
 
How It Happened
Loyola pushed its lead to 16-13 on a Jeff Jendryk service ace in set one before CSUN rallied, tallying three unanswered points to knot the score. From there, the contest was back-and-forth until Collin Mahan hammered home one of his team-high 19 kills and Garrett Zolg served an ace to provide the Ramblers with a thrilling 26-24 victory. Both teams came out of the gates quickly and were incredibly efficient in set one as Loyola hit .636 (17-3-22), to CSUN's .619 (14-1-21), while Mahan drilled seven of his kills in the opening set alone.
 
The Ramblers wasted little time taking a comfortable lead in set two, scoring the first four points, and six of the first seven, including three more kills from Mahan, to dart out to a 6-1 advantage. That lead grew to as many as 12 points on a pair of occasions, the first coming on a Ricky Gevis kill that made it 20-8, and Loyola would roll to a 25-16 victory.
 
CSUN stayed alive in the match thanks to a 25-22 win in the third set. The Matadors snapped a 19-all tie by stringing together a 4-1 run, highlighted by a pair of Dimitar Kalchev kills, to grab a 23-20 lead they would not surrender.
 
Set four was nearly a repeat of the second set as Loyola got a pair of aces from Devin Joslyn and kills from Mahan and Jendryk, as part of a set-opening 6-1 run that stunned CSUN. The Matadors would eventually trim the Ramblers' lead down to two, but Joslyn delivered a pair of kills in a mini 3-1 spurt that extended the Loyola advantage to 10-6. From that point forward, CSUN would get no closer than three points and the Ramblers would lead by as many as nine (22-13) on their way to a 25-17 decision.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Mahan pounded out 19 kills and added six digs, hitting .394 (19-6-33), as he reached double-digit kills for the ninth straight match dating back to last season.
• Gevis continued his impressive play this weekend by crushing 16 kills, his most since February 14, 2016, hitting at a .519 clip (16-2-27), and pitching in five blocks and three digs.
• Jendryk was efficient again, totaling 12 kills, two blocks and an ace, while hitting .647 (12-1-17).
• Arvis Greene led CSUN with a match-high 20 kills.

 
Up Next
Loyola continues its nine-match homestand when hosts No. 13 USC on February 3 at 7 p.m.