Live Video: Quincy Match (TBD) | Lindenwood Match
Live Stats: Quincy Match | Lindenwood Match
 
CHICAGO (February 7, 2019) – After a 7-3 start to the regular season, the Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team begins conference play with a road swing against Quincy (Feb. 8) and Lindenwood (Feb. 9). The weekend marks the fourth consecutive season Loyola has opened MIVA play against those two teams.
 
Last Time Out: The Ramblers dropped a 3-1 match to No. 5 UCLA (Jan. 31), but rebounded to defeat Penn State in four sets two days later. Collin Mahan continued his spectacular start to the season by earning MIVA Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks. Mahan averaged 4.63 kills per set on .492 hitting to lead the Ramblers, and now ranks fourth in the MIVA with a season average of 3.53 k/s, entering Thursday. Engineering the efficient attack was setter Garrett Zolg who compiled 91 assists in his eight sets of work, including a 57-assist outing vs. Penn State that set a career high. Entering Thursday, Zolg is second in the nation with an even 11.00 assists per set.
 
A Look at the Hawks: Quincy, picked to finish eighth in the MIVA, finished its first portion of non-conference play at a 4-6 clip. The Hawks have relied heavily on outside hitter Omari Wheeler to be the kill collector. The North Las Vegas, Nevada, native enters Thursday second in the MIVA in kills per set (4.06), and points per set (4.61). He is one of nine DI-II players to average at least four kills per set. In the passing game, libero Noam Hannoun enters Thursday as the conference's leader in digs per set (2.47). In three matches from Jan. 26-27, Hannoun averaged 3.92 digs per set, highlighted by a 24-dig performance vs. St. Xavier.
 
A Look at the Lions: Lindenwood, picked to place sixth in the MIVA, will enter Friday winners of its last two matches. The Lions' strength is up the middle with 2019 Preseason All-MIVA honoree Connor Hipelius. The middle blocker enters Thursday second in the conference in hitting percentage (.439) and tied for second in blocks per set (1.14). Hipelius also enters Thursday tied for second in the conference with six solo blocks. As a team Lindenwood leads the MIVA in service aces per set at 1.70, led by Sam Schindler's 18.  
 
Series Stuff: Historically the Maroon and Gold hold a significant upper-hand against both the weekend's opponents, but have only played Lindenwood every year since 2011. A win on Friday would be the 21^st in a row against Quincy and would improve Loyola's all-time record versus the Hawks to 50-4. Additionally, the Ramblers could notch milestone win number 20 against the Lindenwood the next day. A couple of program records have been set against the Hawks and Lions, such as Loyola setting the single-match record for blocks against Quincy back in 1997 with 32.
 
Up Next: Loyola comes back home next weekend (Feb. 15-16) for a pair of tests against Purdue Fort Wayne (Feb. 15) and Ball State (Feb. 16). Both teams enter week five ranked in the AVCA Top-15 Coaches' Poll.
 
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