QUINCY, Ill. (February 5, 2021)
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In Short
Luke Denton and
Colton Brooks had double-digit kills and Loyola University Chicago (5-0, 1-0 MIVA) hit .378 (38-10-74) as a team to earn a 25-20, 25-18-25-19 victory over Quincy (3-1, 0-1 MIVA) tonight at Pepsi Arena in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opener for both teams. Loyola is off to a 5-0 start, its best since 2015.
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How It Happened
Quincy put the Ramblers in a 12-9 hole to open up the match, but
Luke Denton tallied a pair of kills in a 4-1 spurt that tied things up at 13-13. Moments later, down 16-14,
Jimmy Meinhart and
Garrett Zolg teamed up on a block to spark a string of eight unanswered points, that also featured two aces from Zolg, to move Loyola ahead, 22-16, on the way to a 25-20 victory.
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Although the host Hawks hit a scorching .433 (15-2-30) in set two, Loyola picked up a 25-18 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Aces from Zolg and
Cole Schlothauer were part of a set-opening 5-1 burst that provided the Ramblers with a lead they would never relinquish. Loyola led 18-12 until a 6-3 Quincy run sliced the gap to 21-18, but two kills from Brooks, and another from Denton, highlighted a stretch of four straight tallies to close out the set.
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Loyola was on fire in the third set, hitting at a whopping .577 (17-2-26) clip, but nonetheless needed a late run to fend off the pesky Hawks. Brooks picked up two of his kills in a decisive stretch in which the Ramblers notched six of eight points to break a 14-14 tie and turn it into a 20-16 advantage en route to a 25-19 victory.
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A Look at the Numbers
- Denton tallied a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs, while hitting .556 (11-1-18), while Brooks went for 10 kills.
- Schlothauer and Meinhart finished with six kills each and Zolg dished out 30 assists and totaled three aces.
- Quincy got a team-best 10 kills from Omari Wheeler as its three-match win streak came to a halt.
- Loyola has now won 45 of its last 46 meetings with Quincy.
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Up Next
The Ramblers and Hawks finish up the two-match series at Pepsi Arena tomorrow night. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
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