GAME NOTES (PDF)
LIVE VIDEO: Pepperdine Match | UC San Diego Match
LIVE STATS: Pepperdine Match | UC San Diego Match
 
CHICAGO (January 17, 2019) – After two straight-set victories in Bristol, Tenn. last weekend, the No. 7 ranked Loyola men's volleyball team is set two face two high-quality opponents this weekend (Jan. 18-19) at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers play No. 5 Pepperdine for the third year in a row on Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by UC San Diego at the same time on Saturday. The Ramblers will enter the weekend with 98 all-time wins while playing at Gentile Arena (98-18 home record since 2012), and could reach the century mark against the Tritons. 
 
Last Time Out: The Maroon and Gold took care of business in their first matches outside of Gentile Arena last weekend. The victories began with a 3-0 win vs. Mount Olive, a match that saw the Ramblers hit .455 and hold UMO to -.093. The Maroon and Gold put together an equally impressive performance the following day in its first official road match of the season, blasting a season-high .462 as a team in a 3-0 win at King. The .462 clip was the team's highest percentage since Feb. 4, 2017 vs. Quincy. Senior Collin Mahan compiled 18 kills (3.00 per set) on .444 hitting, while also adding eight service aces over the course of his six sets of work. His five aces at King tied his career high.
 
A Look at the Waves: Pepperdine, picked to finish third in the MPSF, is off to its first 4-0 start since 2015. Ranking seventh nationally in team kills per set, the Waves are led by the veteran presence of Michael Wexter and David Wieczorek on the pins. The two Chicago-area natives rank 21^st and 23^rd respectively in kills per set among DI-II players. Wexter, brother of Loyola assistant coach Connor Wexter, already has 53 kills to his credit and has notched two double-doubles on the young season. Wieczorek is the reigning MPSF Player of the Year and has registered three double-digit kill matches in 2019.
 
A Look at the Tritons: The UC San Diego Tritons were picked to finish sixth out of six in the stacked Big West conference, and will wrap up a six-match road trip to begin the season this weekend. Winners of their last two matches entering Friday, the Tritons are averaging 28.14 attacks per set to rank third nationally. The team returns outside hitter Wyatt Harrison, who was selected to the Big West All-Freshman team last season. The Kilauea, Hawaii native leads the team with 3.17 kills per set, a mark that's good for 8^th in the conference. A pleasant surprise for head coach Kevin Ring is the emergence of middle blocker Vlad Pesic. After only seeing 13 sets last year, Pesic is off to a fast start in 2019 by holding the team lead in blocks per set (1.00) and attack percentage (.447).
 
Series Stuff: Friday night marks the third consecutive year Loyola has played Pepperdine, and the fourth all-time meeting. The Ramblers will look to break the mini-trend of the road team emerging victorious, which has been the case in the last two contests. Among active Ramblers, Collin Mahan has enjoyed the most career success against the Waves from an individual standpoint, posting 24 kills on .333 hitting in eight career sets. The Ramblers and Tritons face off for the first time since 2012, and the Maroon and Gold will put a four-match head-to-head winning streak on the line. In five all-time meetings, Loyola has won the last four (2001, 2005, 2008, 2012) and dropped a 3-1 tilt back in its inaugural season in 1996.
 
Up Next: Loyola continues its swing of California opponents, this time on the road against two nationally ranked teams in CSUN (Jan. 25) and UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 26). First serve for each contest is scheduled for 9 p.m. central time.
 
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