CHICAGO (April 1, 2021)
 
In Short
Ryan Coenen totaled 13 kills and Kyle Bugee added 10 to lead No. 5 Lewis (16-2, 11-2 MIVA) to a 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 victory over No. 10 Loyola University Chicago (13-4, 9-4 MIVA) tonight at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility. The loss snaps Loyola's winning streak at five matches and with the win, Lewis sews up the 2021 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular-season championship.
 
How It Happened
Lewis scored the first five points of the match, two coming via service aces from Cole Brillhart, to set the tone and put the Ramblers in a 5-0 hole. Before Loyola was able to gather itself from Lewis' initial blow, the hosts found themselves staring at a 14-3 deficit. The Ramblers wouldn't go down without a fight however, and charged back thanks to a 15-7 run that cut the gap to 21-18. But, that is as close as Loyola would get in the opener, with Lewis tallying the final four points for a 25-18 win.
 
Loyola was in possession of a 5-4 lead early in the second set until the Flyers assembled an 11-3 spurt to turn a one-point deficit into a commanding 15-8 lead. The Ramblers clawed back, eventually getting within 24-22 on a Cole Schlothauer kill, but a service error squashed Loyola's comeback hopes in a 25-22 defeat.
 
The Ramblers trailed by as many as four points early in the third set, but a 5-1 burst, keyed by a pair of Schlothauer kills, drew Loyola even at 9-9. From there the teams battled back and forth until kills from Coenen and Bugee opened up a set-closing burst of four unanswered tallies that gave Lewis a 25-21 victory.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Schlothauer led Loyola with a team-high 14 kills, while Luke Denton fell a dig shy of posting a double-double, finishing with 11 kills, nine digs and four blocks.
• Garrett Zolg dealt 27 assists and added eight digs for the Ramblers, who hit a season-low .124 (35-23-97).
• Meanwhile, Lewis hit .264 (38-14-91) as a team.

 
Up Next
These same two teams close out the 2021 regular season with a match tomorrow night (April 2) at 7 p.m. at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility.