In Short
Picking up their first road win of the season, the Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team defeated Quincy tonight, 3-1. Cole Schlothauer, Devin Joslyn and Kyle Piekarski each recorded double-digit kills to fuel the Ramblers, while freshman Jake Maffett had a career-high performance, recording nine kills, five digs, one ace and one block. The Ramblers move to 4-8 (1-1 MIVA) while Quincy drops to 3-9 (0-1 MIVA). 

Coach Mark Hulse's Thoughts
"It's great to get a road win in conference and it's always difficult to do," Hulse said. "I'm very happy with how the guys battled and stuck together on the road."

How It Happened
Quincy captured set one, 25-21 despite the Ramblers hitting .429 percent, the highest attack percentage they've posted since defeating Urbana on January 25. Quincy out-blocked the Ramblers 5-2 and and out-hit them 16-12 to give them a slight advantage. Freshman Jake Maffett stood out in the first set, making his first start of the season and tallying two kills, one of which tied the set 16-16. Both teams were neck and neck but Quincy went on a 3-0 run at the end to ultimately take set one.

The Ramblers took an early lead in set two, highlighted by a Schlothauer ace to make the score 4-1. Loyola took a 7-4 lead with a Joslyn kill but Quincy fired back, going on a 3-0 run. Not to be shut down, the Ramblers went on a 5-1 run which included a huge block from Anton Frank and Maffett. Quincy was forced into a timeout when the Ramblers pulled ahead, 18-12 and eventually won the set, 25-18.

Set three started off strong with another ace from Schlothauer to post a 1-0 lead before both teams juggled numerous points and tied the game up 13 times. With the set tied 13-13, Quincy went on a 3-0 run to end the exchange. Kills from Schlothauer, Piekarski and Joslyn brought the Ramblers back in it to tie 21-21 and force a Quincy timeout. The Ramblers won set three, 25-22 after out-killing Quincy, 15-9.

Maffett picked up his first career ace in the beginning of set three, giving Loyola a 5-3 advantage. After a couple ties, the Ramblers went on a 3-0 run to take back a 17-14 lead and force another Quincy timeout. Coming back from the break, Loyola went on a 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Frank. The Hawks attempted to close the gap and brought it within one, 22-21, but the Ramblers maintained their momentum and won the fourth set, 25-23.
 
A Look At The Numbers
• Loyola hit .311 percent, their highest since posting a .469 percentage in their 3-0 victory over Urbana on January 25.
• Redshirt freshman Cole Schlothauer led the Ramblers with 14 kills.
• Junior Devin Joslyn and senior Kyle Piekarski each recorded 12 kills.
• Freshman Jake Maffett put on a stand-out performance in his first start for the Ramblers this season, posting a career-high nine kills, five digs, one ace and one block.
• Senior Ian Cowen tallied 49 assists and nine digs.
 
Up Next
The Ramblers continue their MIVA road trip at Lindenwood on Saturday, Feb. 15, facing the Lions at 4 p.m. CT.