In Short…
Loyola upended No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne in four sets to cap off a 2-0 weekend through Indiana. The Ramblers got 16 kills each from Collin Mahan and Will Tischler, while Garrett Zolg dished out 53 assists and dug up 10 attacks for his fifth double-double of 2019.

Coach Hulse's Thoughts
"It was a huge win for us, coming into a tough gym against a very good team," head coach Mark Hulse said. "We competed hard and were tough enough to get an important win."
 
How It Happened
Purdue Fort Wayne fed off the Senior Night energy in the building as it was all Mastodons early. The 'Dons jumped out to a 12-4 lead and forced Loyola to use both timeouts in the process. The visitors countered with a 7-1 run that got them back in the mix – a stretch that included two of Dane Leclair's five first set kills. The Mastodons worked their lead back up to four at 18-14, but the Ramblers answered with their second crucial point explosion of the set. This time it was a 6-0 run that had four kills and two Will Tischler aces that established a 21-18 lead for Loyola they wouldn't give up. The Ramblers captured the match's opening set moments later by a 25-21 margin.
 
The Ramblers got five kills from Collin Mahan and Tischler in the second set that was evenly played to the 9-9 mark. The 'Dons then erupted on a 5-1 run to go up 14-11, but Loyola quickly responded with a 4-1 run of their own to cut the deficit to one. Purdue Fort Wayne maintained its lead to the 20-18 mark, but it escaped them there, as kills from Mahan and Paul Narup, followed by the two of them teaming up for a block put the Ramblers in front at a 21-20 margin. Loyola then had a chance to close it out up 24-23 and go up 2-0. However, a three-straight Mastodon points proved too much as the home team tied it up 1-1 heading into the intermission.
 
Loyola showed first signs of separation with a 3-0 run that propelled them to a 12-10 advantage. In that stretch, Narup and Mahan logged another block together that went down as Narup's 100^th of the season. The Ramblers' only other block of the set came moments later from Leclair via the solo style. His second solo stopper of the season gave Loyola its first three-point advantage of the set at 15-12. Purdue Fort Wayne battled back and went punch-for-punch with the Ramblers through the bulk of the set that saw 12 ties. The valiant effort was unable to produce a lead change. With the score knotted up at 22-all, Loyola grabbed the final three points behind a Tischler kill and a Leclair ace to walk away up two sets to zero with a 25-22 set three win.
 
Set four belonged to Tischler and his seven kills that led all participating players in the stanza. He was at it early with two of them that paced Loyola to an 8-6 lead, setting the table for a 3-0 run produced by two Mahan kills. Up 11-7, Loyola maintained its advantage despite the 'Dons ferociously chipping away. From there the lead was trimmed to one point on four different occasions, and tied twice at the 19-19 and 20-20 marks. The Ramblers went to work from there with a 4-1 run that brought it match point at 24-21 and forced a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout. The teams then traded errors, giving Loyola the set four triumph and the match win.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Dane Leclair set a new season high with 14 kills, one shy of his career high.
-The 53 assists from Garrett Zolg was his sixth match this season of 50-plus, and put him over 900 helpers this season and 2,000 for his career.
-Collin Mahan's 16 kills shared the match lead, and represented the 60^th time the senior has registered at least 10 in a match during his collegiate career.
-Loyola has now defeated Purdue Fort Wayne 14 consecutive times.
 
Up Next
The Ramblers return to Gentile and begin their four-match homestand to close out the regular season. First up on the docket is McKendree for a Thursday night tilt (March 28) at 7 p.m.