CHICAGO (February 23, 2021) - Loyola, which slipped to No. 15 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Poll after suffering it first setbacks of 2021, opens a home-and-home series with Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) rival, Purdue Fort Wayne this week. However, the matches with the Mastodons will be played over a stretch of 16 days. 

At 8-2 overall, Loyola is off to its best start through 10 matches since 2018, when it also won eight of the first 10 outings of the year. The Ramblers began the 2018 campaign with a 10-2 ledger.

In four matches at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility this season, Loyola is hitting .318 (192-61-412) as a team and its .320 overall hitting percentage this season ranks sixth in the nation through matches of February 22. In their last four true road contests, the Ramblers have posted a .322 (152-49-320) hitting percentage.

Andrew Lyons is hitting at an impressive .571 (35-3-56) clip over the last eight matches and has just one error (23-1-39) in the last five outings.

This is the deepest into a season Loyola has ever gone since the program's inception in 1996 without playing a nationally ranked opponent.

Loyola – Purdue Fort Wayne – The Series

The Ramblers and Mastodons are meeting for the 53rd time in a series that started in Loyola's inaugural year of men's volleyball - 1996. Loyola possesses a 31-21 advantage in the series and has won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the teams. A year ago, the clubs split the regular-season series with the road team winning each contest. Purdue Fort Wayne's victory in Chicago last season was its first in the series since a five-set win on February 20, 2013. Loyola is 18-11 against the Mastodons when playing in the Windy City and has won eight of the last nine there. The Ramblers have won 11 straight in Fort Wayne since a five-set loss in 2009.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne

Purdue Fort Wayne had a two-match winning streak come to an end last weekend when it dropped both matches at Lewis. The Mastodons have prevailed in their only two outings at the Gates Sports Center this season, sweeping a two-match series from Quincy two weeks ago, and are 0-4 away from home in 2021. Freshman outside hitter Vicente Ibarra has been a force in Purdue Fort Wayne's first six matches, tallying a team-best 4.17 kills per set, while hitting at a .308 clip (75-27-156). Outside hitter Pelegrin Vargas, a three-time First Team All-MIVA selection, is having another solid season, going for 3.09 kills and 1.35 digs per set.

Up Next

Loyola and Purdue Fort Wayne play the back end of the home-and-home series March 12 in Fort Wayne, Ind. Following that match, the Ramblers host McKendree, March 18 and 19.