In Short…
Loyola picked up its second 3-1 win of the weekend with a victory over No. 12 Ball State on Saturday (Feb. 16). The Ramblers are now off to their best start in MIVA play since 2015.
Coach Hulse's Thoughts:
"I'm happy that we were prepared to duke it out, because we needed to be," head coach
Mark Hulse said. "We got a really good boost from some guys coming off the bench, being in a serving sub role, or Dane [Leclair] coming off the bench to do a really nice job to steady some stuff out for us. It was good to see us win in one way last night against Purdue Fort Wayne, and then win in a pretty different way tonight."
How It Happened
The opening set had an abundance of streaky play from both sides. By the time the 14-14 mark rolled around, Ball State had two 3-0 runs under its belt, while Loyola enjoyed a 4-0 stretch. The Ramblers benefited from
Luke Denton making some big plays in key spots, such as an ace to put his team up 17-16, and a kill to tie the set at 21-21. In the first of two sets that required extras, Ball State emerged victorious in the match's opener at a 27-25 clip.
An early 4-0 Ball State run put the Cardinals on top 7-5, and in control for the early stages of set number two. Not panicking, Loyola stayed the course and got its first big point explosion of the set that tied it at 12-12. After the Cardinals regained the advantage, Loyola took advantage of a pair of attack errors to go up 16-15 and force a timeout. With the lead again in BSU's favor at 19-18, kills from
Collin Mahan,
Dane Leclair and
Paul Narup, rounded out a Rambler triple-block grabbed a two-point lead at 21-19. However, Ball State would not go away and forced extras, even getting to set point at 27-26. But a
Kyle Piekarski kill tied it back up and the Ramblers rode back-to-back blocks by Narup to even the match up at one set apiece.
In what was shaping up to be a common theme, Ball State took the early lead again in set three, as large as 11-7. The tide then turned with a 6-0 Rambler run that had two blocks from Narup. With the teams trading points for the ensuing action, Narup and
Garrett Zolg anchored another 4-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. Narup finished the stanza with three kills and three blocks (two solo), including the final kill to give Loyola the 25-21 set three win.
Already possessing 15 kills through three sets, Mahan got the Ramblers' first of the frame and tallied five more throughout to finish with an even 20. His 18
th of the night tied the set at 10-10 to keep up the steady pace of point-trading. After the 15-15 mark, the set saw seven ties and two lead changes that took the action to a 22-21 BSU lead. Needing a major spark to avoid a winner-take-all fifth set, Loyola got one in a 3-0 run with two kills and a block to bring the action to match point at 24-22. Mahan notched kill number 20 on the last play of the game to secure the win and run Loyola's win streak to five.
A Look at the Numbers
-En route to earning his 500
th career dig,
Collin Mahan posted 12 total in the match to tie his career high.
-Garrett Zolg's 54 assists marked the third time in five matches he's complied 50 or more. He now sits at exactly 600 helpers on the season.
-
Paul Narup tied his single-match career high in blocks with 10. It was Loyola's first 10-plus block match by an individual this season.
-The 13.0 team blocks by the Ramblers set a new season-high.
Up Next
The Ramblers head back on the road to close out the month of February. A Thursday-Sunday slate sees LUC paired up with McKendree (Feb. 21) and Ohio State (Feb. 24). Sunday's match at Ohio State will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network.
