CHICAGO (January 22, 2021)
 
In Short
Cole Schlothauer tallied 18 kills and Luke Denton added 17 to pace Loyola University Chicago (1-0) to a 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21 victory over Lincoln Memorial (1-1) tonight at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility in the Ramblers' 2021 season opener.
 
How It Happened
Schlothauer's first kill of the match broke a 5-5 tie and put Loyola ahead to stay in the opening set and that kill also ignited an 8-3 run that included back-to-back service aces from Devin Joslyn, to give the Ramblers control of the proceedings. Loyola's lead would balloon to as large as 20-11 on a Luke Denton stop, but Lincoln Memorial made it interesting down the stretch, putting together a 10-4 run to close within 24-21, before another Schlothauer kill finished off a 25-21 Rambler victory.
 
The Ramblers hit just .188 as the Railsplitters evened the match with a 25-23 victory in set two. The set was nip and tuck throughout with neither team leading by more than three points and after a Denton kill knotted the score at 23-23, LMU turned away back-to-back Loyola attacks to finish off the win.
 
Things couldn't have gone much worse for the Ramblers at the outset of the third set as Lincoln Memorial darted out to a 5-0 advantage thanks to five straight Loyola hitting errors. But, back-to-back Schlothauer kills breathed life into Loyola and the comeback was on. The Ramblers showed their mettle and chipped away at the deficit before finally tying things up at 19-19 on another stop from Schlothauer. After the teams exchanged scores, Loyola ran off the final five points of the set, two coming courtesy of freshman Jimmy Meinhart, to cap off the come-from-behind, 25-20 victory.
 
Loyola gained separation in the fourth set when Denton spearheaded a string of four unanswered points with three kills of his own, snapping a 16-16 tie to give the Ramblers a 20-16 lead they would never give up on the way to a 25-21 decision.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Schlothauer delivered a team-best 18 kills and added five digs and four blocks to lead a Loyola offensive attack that hit .271 (52-17-129) as a team. Dating back to last season, the 2020 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Newcomer of the Year has recorded 10 or more kills in 10 of his last 11 matches.
• Denton's 17 kills were a career high, surpassing his previous best of 15 set at Cal State Northridge on January 25, 2019. He added eight digs, three blocks and a pair of aces tonight.
• Garrett Zolg, a two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-America setter, made his return to action after missing the 2020 campaign due to injury, and looked none the worse for wear, totaling 46 assists, four digs and five blocks.
• Justin Sharfenaker led Lincoln Memorial with 17 kills.

 
Up Next
Loyola is right back at it tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. when it hosts Queens in a match that will be streamed on ESPN3.