CHICAGO (January 23, 2021)
 
In Short
Loyola University Chicago (2-0) hit .366 as a team to roll to a 25-19, 25-16, 25-21 victory over visiting Queens (1-4) this afternoon at the Alfie Norville Practice Facility. The Ramblers stay unbeaten on the season with the win and this marks the first time since 2015, which was the final year of capturing back-to-back NCAA championships, that they have opened a season with consecutive wins.
 
How It Happened
In the opening set, Loyola jumped out to a 7-3 lead but Queens fought back and closed the gap to 11-10 on a Rambler service error. A kill from Luke Denton gave the Ramblers momentum again and Cole Schlothauer followed with back-to-back kills before a Royals attack error bumped Loyola's lead to 15-10, and from there, Queens never got closer than four points the rest of the set.
 
Loyola took command of set two from the first serve, scoring the first three points, and it never looked back on the way to a comfortable 25-16 win. The Ramblers hit .400 (14-4-25) in the set and got five kills from redshirt freshman Colton Brooks, who was making his first career start this afternoon.
 
Once again, the Ramblers got off to a. fast start in the third set, thanks mostly to Schlothauer, who tallied four kills in a set-opening 8-2 run that gave Loyola some early breathing room. Loyola's lead would grow to as many as eight points on four occasions in set three, the last coming at 19-11 on another Schlothauer kill, before Queens rallied late. The Royals whittled the lead down to four on five occasions and got as close as 24-21, but a Tristan Santoyo service error squelched any hope of a comeback as Loyola held on for a 25-21 victory to earn the sweep.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Schlothauer deposited a team-high 15 kills, hitting .414 (15-3-29) for the match, while adding six digs.
• Denton was impressive for the second time in as many matches, notching double-digit kills with 10 stops, and Brooks ripped eight kills.
• Freshman Jimmy Meinhart led the Ramblers with six blocks and Garrett Zolg handed out 29 assists and served up four aces.
• Tristan Santoyo paced Queens, which hit just .177 (28-14-79) as a team, with 12 kills.

 
Up Next
Loyola plays its first matches away from Chicago next weekend when it travels to Loretto, Pa., to face Saint Francis (Pa.) and NJIT on January 29 and 30, respectively.