CHICAGO (October 31, 2021) - Loyola, which has won five of its last six contests on the road, enters the week on a five-match overall winning streak, matching its second-longest run of the season. The Ramblers, who are 18-6 overall and 11-1 in Missouri Valley Conference action, are assured of their fourth straight winning season, all under fourth-year head coach Amanda Berkley. Loyola has not posted four consecutive winning campaigns since doing so eight years in succession from 1997 through 2004. 

For the first time since winning 11 of its first 12 matches in Horizon League play in 2002, Loyola is off to an 11-1 start in conference action. That 2002 team finished the season with a 13-1 ledger in the Horizon League and won the regular season title.

Since the start of the 2019 campaign, Loyola has won 13 of its last 15 MVC matches at Gentile Arena. Dating back to the 2019 season, the Ramblers, who played their home matches at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility in 2020-21, have prevailed in 16 of the last 18 contests on their home floor. Loyola has been perfect at home this season (9-0) and is attempting to go undefeated on its home floor for an entire season for the first time since 1993 when it won all 14 contests at Alumni Gym.

The Ramblers are aiming for their first regular season conference title since finishing atop the Horizon League standings in 2002. 

In its last six matches at Gentile Arena, Loyola has posted a .256 hitting percentage (305-119-727), and in nine outings on its home floor this season the Ramblers are hitting at a .263 clip (486-186-1,139). 

Loyola has won 10 or more Valley matches twice in the last three seasons. However, since 2005, those are the only two times the Ramblers have topped double-digits in conference victories. With six league matches left to play, Loyola has a chance to equal or better the program record for conference wins (14), regardless of affiliation, set in 2019.

Scouting Drake

Drake is reeling and is seeking its first win since October 8 when it took down Southern Illinois in five sets in Carbondale. Since then, the Bulldogs have dropped each of their last six matches and are coming off a gut-wrenching, five-set loss to Northern Iowa on October 29. Drake, which ranks first in The Valley in blocks per set (2.58), has stumbled in four of the last five road contests, including each of the last three. Preseason All-MVC outside hitter Haley Bush is the focal point of the Bulldogs' attack and leads the team with 3.82 kills per set, while pitching in 2.72 digs per set. Loyola has prevailed in five of the last six meetings with Drake and it has captured three of the last four matchups in Rogers Park. 

Scouting Valparaiso

The Beacons had a three-match winning streak grind to a halt with a four-set defeat at Indiana State on October 30, but they are a perfect 5-0 at home this season, with all of those victories coming in Valley competition. In fact, Valparaiso has dropped just three sets in five home matches this fall. Peyton McCarthy (.307, 2.63 kps, 0.95 bps) and Haley Hart (.297, 2.84 kps, 0.88 bps) provide a solid one-two punch for Valpo, while libero Rylee Cookerly leads the MVC with 4.84 digs per set. The Ramblers have won four of their last five encounters with their long-time rival, including a three-set sweep in Chicago last month. Loyola is 13-9 all-time against the Beacons in Valparaiso but has tumbled in three of the last four matches there.

Up Next

Loyola hosts Bradley (Nov. 12) and Illinois State (Nov. 13) in a pivotal weekend set for its final home matches of the 2021 season..