Box Score

In Short…
Collin Mahan ripped a team-high 14 kills as No. 6 Loyola University Chicago withstood a late charge to defeat Quincy, 25-16, 25-15, 25-27, 22-25, 15-11 tonight in its Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) opener inside Gentile Arena.  With the win, the Ramblers improve to 8-2 overall (1-0 MIVA), while the Hawks drop to 8-4 (0-2 MIVA).
 
How It Happened
Back-to-back Quincy attack errors helped ignite a game-opening 3-0 run for the Ramblers, who quickly took control of the first set.  A Garrett Zolg service ace staked the Maroon & Gold to a 13-8 lead and forced a Quincy timeout.  The Hawks would get no closer than four the rest of the way, with a Mahan kill providing the exclamation point as Loyola cruised to a 25-16 victory.
 
Consecutive kills by Will Tischler and Ricky Gevis followed by a block from Mahan and Paul Narup helped Loyola open up a 12-7 edge early on in the second set.  Tischler and Kyle Piekarski teamed up for a stuff of their own to extend the margin to 17-9.  Loyola closed the set on a Tischler kill to pick up a 25-15 decision.
 
The two teams traded points for much of what was tight third set.  With the Loyola lead sitting at 14-13, Gevis and Piekarski delivered kills to give the Ramblers a 16-13 edge.  The visitors would roar back with three unanswered points to level the score at 16-16 on a Blake Sprecher kill.  Following a Shane McAdams spike that gave Quincy a 20-18 lead, Loyola ripped off a 3-0 spurt of its own to reclaim a 21-20 advantage.  The Hawks finished with a flurry, fighting off match point and scoring four of the set's final five points to earn a 27-25 win.
 
The fourth set would follow a similar script to the third, with neither team able to gain separation.  Following a kill by Gevis that gave the Ramblers a 9-6 lead and prompted a Quincy timeout, the Hawks answered back with three straight points to force a 9-9 deadlock.  With the score knotted up at 19-19, Shane McAdams hammered home a kill to spark a 3-1 surge that gave Quincy a 22-20 edge.  Gevis trimmed the deficit to 22-21 but the Hawks would again have the final say, forcing a decisive fifth set on an Anthony Winter kill.
 
Gevis and Jeff Jendryk joined forces for a block in the opening stages of the fifth set to help Loyola race out to a 6-3 lead.  A Gevis service ace pushed the margin to 10-4 and forced the Hawks to use their final timeout of the evening.  Quincy pulled to within two, 13-11, before a service error allowed Mahan to close the match out with an ace that clinched Loyola's first conference win of the 2018 campaign.
 
A Look At The Numbers
- Mahan paced a trio of Ramblers to reach double figures that also included Gevis (13) and Tischler (12). 
- Narup proved to be a force on defense as he recorded a career-high 10 blocks. 
- Zolg dished out 41 assists to go along with a team-best 13 digs.
- Winter closed the night with a game-high 18 kills to lead the Quincy attack.
 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up a season-long nine-game homestand on Saturday at 5 p.m. when it plays host to Lindenwood.