In Short...
Loyola pieced together a 3-1 road win against Lindenwood on Saturday night (Feb. 9). Will Tischler posted 20.0 points (17 kills, three aces) to lead the Ramblers attack in the four-set win.

Coach Hulse's Thoughts
"It was a really gritty win on the road against another good team," head coach Mark Hulse said. "We weren't great out of the gates, but we responded well and got the result we wanted. It ended up being a nice road trip to start off the conference season."

How It Happened
Lindenwood came out flying in the first set and burst out to a 10-4 lead. Kyle Piekarski picked up a kill and a block in the ensuing action, but the Lions' attack continued to force Loyola into another timeout at the 16-8 mark. Collin Mahan brought the Ramblers back to within striking distance at 17-13 with back-to-back kills, and opened the door for Loyola to tie it up at 19-19 all thanks to a pair of Lindenwood errors. However, it would be the Lions that would capture set one by a score of 25-22.
 
The strong start from Lindenwood carried over into the second set as the home team went up by four at 16-12. After a Hulse timeout, Loyola responded with a 3-0 run that featured kills from Mahan and Tischler, as well as an ace from Luke Denton. After Lindenwood extended its lead to 19-16, Loyola exploded on a 5-0 run that gave them the lead they wouldn't relinquish. Kyler Kotsakis picked up an ace in that sequence he led from start to finish from the service line. Ahead by two, Loyola finished the job and tied the match up at 25-22.
 
Set three began with prevalent back-and-forth play that had 11 ties up to the 12-12 mark. Lindenwood showed the first signs of separation immediately after with a 4-0 run to go up 15-12. However, a patient Loyola approach allowed the team to chip away at the lead and take it themselves, 21-20, with Denton's seventh kill of the night. With the score tied 22-22, Tischler rang up two straight key kills to bring Loyola to set point, while Mahan won it at 25-23 after each team took a timeout between those plays.
 
Now up 2-1 in the match, Denton came out hot with two straight kills to put the Maroon and Gold up 4-2 early. With the lead being narrowed to one at the 11-10 mark, Loyola captured the next three points with kills from Paul Narup and Tischler to grab its first four-point lead of the set. Moments later, the Ramblers blew it wide open in a blink of an eye with a 7-1 run that brought things to match point, while the run was extended to 9-2 that won Loyola the set (25-26) and the match.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Loyola's nine aces tied a single-match high in 2019.
-Garrett Zolg's 54 assists is his fourth match of 50 or more this season.
-After a tough two sets in the attack percentage department, Loyola hit .611 in the final set that gave the team its largest margin of victory among the four frames.
-The 17 kills from Will Tischler is his second highest amount in a match this season.
 
Up Next
Loyola returns to Gentile for its first two home MIVA matches of the season. On Friday night (Feb. 15), Purdue Fort Wayne comes to town followed by Ball State the following day – both 7 p.m. first serves.