In Short…
The No. 5 ranked Loyola Ramblers had their winning streak snapped at six on Saturday night (Jan. 26). The Maroon and Gold has three players log double-digit kills for the second consecutive night, highlighted by Will Tischler registering his fifth career double-double (12 kills, 12 digs).
 
Coach Hulse's Thoughts
"We came up short, but a lot of that is due to how UC Santa Barbara played," head coach Mark Hulse said. "It's a good reminder that it's a long season and we have a lot of improving to do."
 
How It Happened
UC Santa Barbara showed the first signs of separation in the first set with a 5-1 run to go up 11-7, but a well-timed Rambler timeout flipped the script and set up their own run of 3-0 to bring the deficit to one. The run turned into a 7-2 stretch in favor of Loyola and gave the team the lead at 14-13. Loyola held a slim lead the rest of the way, and took advantage of Kyle Piekarski kills for the team's 21^st and 22^nd point. Two more kills later on from Luke Denton and Garrett Zolg gave the visitors the first set win.
 
Loyola showed early resiliency in the second set by erasing a 6-3 deficit with a 4-1 run to tie it at 7-7. Collin Mahan anchored a 3-0 run moments later to go up 10-8, and the Ramblers stayed in the lead or tied until UCSB retook the advantage at 18-17. The battle continued into extras, and the Ramblers collected four kills from four different players after the 25-25 mark. However, after Piekarski's rocket up the middle tied the frame at 31-31, UCSB took the next two points and tied the match at 1-1.
 
The third set began with the teams working their way to 7-7, but the Gauchos took off from there with a 5-0 run and never looked back. UCSB was buzzing the rest of third and handcuffed Loyola to the tune of a 25-16 defeat. The Gauchos didn't allow the Ramblers to put together consistent production and forced more errors (8) than Loyola had kills (7).
 
Needing a fourth set win to avoid elimination, the Ramblers found themselves in a hole early, down 12-7. Mahan made sure his team wouldn't go down without a fight and strung together back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 12-10. Later on a block from Denton and Piekarski tied it up at 14-14 to give Loyola a fresh start. Once tied up again at 20-20, it looked like a Denton kill put the Ramblers ahead 21-20, the call was reversed and it was the Gauchos with the lead. The play sparked a 3-0 UCSB run, paving the way for the home team to close out the match with a 25-22 set four win.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Will Tischler's 12 digs in the match tied his career high. He will also enter his next match one kill shy of 400 in his career.
-The 10 kills for Kyle Piekarski marked the third time this season he's reached double-figures. The Ramblers as a team had three players with 10 or more kills for the fourth time in 2019.
-With two more aces in the outing, Luke Denton has registered seven in his last four matches (0.50 per set).
-Denton set also set a new season match-high with five blocks. It's the first time this year he's led the team in that category for a match.
 
Up Next
A Thursday-Saturday slate layout awaits the Ramblers back in Chicago next week. The Thursday (Jan. 31) matchup features the 2018 NCAA National Champion Runner-up in UCLA, while Loyola renews its rivalry with Penn State on Saturday (Feb. 2). Saturday's contest is a 3 p.m. first serve with the program's Alumni Match happening afterward.