In Short…
Loyola posted its second consecutive three-set victory with a sweep over Ohio State on Friday (March 29). The Ramblers registered eight aces to OSU's five, three of which came off the hand of Kyler Kotsakis.

Coach Hulse's Thoughts
"We did a good job of being aggressive at times but also being patient and it paid off," head coach Mark Hulse said. "Hopefully it's not about the sweep so much as 'we played really well and we got a win against a good team at home.'"
 
How It Happened
A 5-0 run propelled Loyola to an early 6-2 lead in the opening set. Later on, the first Rambler service of the night from Will Tischler widened the lead to 11-7 and forced a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State hung around for the middle portions of the frame and made it a four-point game at 19-15, but a 4-0 run capped off by a Kyler Kotsakis ace and Collin Mahan kill put the Ramblers back in front by a substantial margin. The Buckeyes fought off five set points, but a Dane Leclair kill finished the job at 25-21.
 
The teams began the middle set with an evenly played effort to the 9-9 mark. A 3-0 run sparked the first turning point for the Ramblers in what would eventually become a blowout victory. After Ohio State narrowed it back to one at 13-12, Loyola exploded for a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Tischler kills. The tempo didn't stop there, as Kotsakis nailed down two more aces to guide the home team to a final run of seven of the last eight points to blow past OSU in set number two, 25-14.
 
Ohio State came out buzzing in the third set, grabbing leads of 7-1 and 10-3. A Kyle Piekarski kill began a 5-0 run that got the Ramblers back in the mix to a deficit of only 10-8. The Buckeyes worked their lead back to four (13-9), but the Ramblers look over from there. Kills from Paul Narup and Leclair set the table for Mahan to register back-to-back kills and give Loyola the lead at 14-13. The two kills put Mahan over the 300-kill benchmark this season and catapulted him into the program's Top-10 list for career kills. Ohio State tied it back up again at 17-17, but the ensuing 4-1 Loyola run put the Buckeyes in a hole they wouldn't dig out of. Leclair's second ace of the night propelled Loyola to a 21-18 advantage, and the senior co-captain later closed it out with a kill to ink the set at 25-22 – consequently finishing off the sweep.
 
A Look at the Numbers
-Collin Mahan now ranks 10^th in Loyola program history in career kills with 1,075 and counting.
-In the process of cracking the Top-10, Mahan became the first Rambler since Thomas Jaeschke in 2014-15 to register 300 or more kills in back-to-back seasons.
-Kyler Kotsakis tied his career high in service aces with three on Friday night. He's notched five in the last two matches (0.83 per set).
-Loyola's eight service aces is the third time this season the team has reached that total in a three-set match.
 
Up Next
Loyola plays its final two matches of the regular season at home next weekend, beginning with an April 5^th showdown with Lindenwood. First serve is set for 7 p.m.