GAME NOTES (PDF)
LIVE VIDEO: UC Irvine Match | North Greenville Match
LIVE STATS: UC Irvine Match | North Greenville Match
 
CHICAGO (January 3, 2019) – After winning its lone exhibition match of the preseason, the No. 9 ranked Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team opens the regular season with two home matches against No. 4 UC Irvine (Friday, Jan. 4) and North Greenville (Saturday, Jan. 5). Each match will begin at 7 p.m. and represents the third time in four years the Ramblers opened at home.
 
2019 Preview: Loyola brings back 13 letterwinners from last year's MIVA runner-up squad and welcomes seven newcomers. This year, the Ramblers were picked to finish second in the eight-team conference and boast senior Collin Mahan as the Preseason MIVA Player of the Year. Joining Mahan on the Preseason All-MIVA team was Garrett Zolg, who looks to build off his 2018 performance that earned him MIVA Freshman of the Year. Seniors Avery Aylsworth and Dane Leclair join Mahan as the team captains in Mark Hulse's fourth season as the head coach.
 
A Look at the Anteaters: UC Irvine, picked to finish third in the Big West, is one of three teams Loyola will face this year that played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The Anteaters bring back four student-athletes that earned AVCA All-America recognition last year, most notably middle blocker Scott Stadick who finished second in the nation with 1.32 blocks per set. The AVCA preseason No. 4 ranked team has its first eight matches of 2019 on the road, and have won its last three season openers.
 
A Look at the Crusaders: North Greenville finished last year at a 13-16 overall clip with a 7-9 conference record that landed them fifth in the final Conference Carolinas standings. The early-season question mark surrounding the Crusaders is how they'll replace the on-court production of three-time All-CVAC middle blocker Matthew McManaway. He led the team last year with 101 total blocks (0.93 per set), but they'll retain his volleyball IQ on the bench, as he enters his first season as a student assistant coach on head coach Fred Battenfield's staff. Among returning players, outside hitter Jackson Gilbert is back after leading the team with 284 kills (2.56 per set) last season.
 
Series Stuff: Friday's opener marks the 11^th time the Ramblers have tangled with the Anteaters, but is the first time since 2014 they've played at Gentile. Each team has a three-match winning streak against each other, while Loyola has two of them (1998-05, 2014-16). Saturday's contest is the first time Loyola will see North Greenville and look to remain unbeaten against Conference Carolinas teams, entering Saturday at a perfect 8-0 clip while claiming 24 of 25 sets in the matches.
 
Up Next: Loyola heads to Bristol, Tenn. on Jan. 11-12 for weekend matches against Mount Olive and King University. First serves take place at 4 p.m. CT and 7 p.m. CT respectively, while the Mount Olive contest is the only neutral match for the Ramblers in the regular season.
 
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