CHICAGO (April 9, 2021) – Three members of the Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball program have earned First Team All-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) honors, it was announced today by the league office. Capturing All-MIVA recognition was Luke Denton (Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge), Cole Schlothauer (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) and Garrett Zolg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei).
 
This is the first time since 2018 that Loyola has placed three or more players on the All-MIVA First Team. That season, four Ramblers secured first team all-league accolades, including Zolg, who earned the honor as a freshman that year.
 
Denton, a junior opposite, has had the best season of his collegiate career in 2021 and enters the MIVA Tournament with a team-leading 243 total kills and 120 total digs. He has ripped 10 or more kills on 16 occasions for the eleventh-ranked Ramblers and is contributing 3.68 kills, 1.82 digs, 0.97 blocks and 0.26 service aces per set, while hitting at a .288 (243-82-559) clip. After earning MIVA All-Freshman Team honors in 2019, he battled through an injury-filled 2020 campaign before taking his game to a different level this year. Denton has blasted 20 or more kills three times this season, with all of those coming in the last seven outings, while also producing three double-doubles during that seven-match stretch. In a victory over then-No. 8 McKendree on March 19, he hammered a career-best 25 kills and added 11 digs.
 
For the second straight season, Schlothauer has taken home First Team All-MIVA status and the 6-foot-5 outside hitter is racking up a team-high 3.93 kills per set and is pitching in 1.81 digs per set, while hitting .322 (228-72-484). The redshirt sophomore, who was tabbed MIVA Newcomer of the Year and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-America in 2020, ranks 11^thin the nation in kills per set this season, and over the last four outings is tallying 4.50 kills and 1.83 digs per set. Three times this season he has walloped 20 or more kills and in Loyola's most recent outing, he went for 20 kills and 10 digs against then-No. 5 Lewis on April 2. A model of consistency, dating back to last season, he has delivered double-digit kills in 22 of his last 26 appearances and is only the fourth player in program history to earn First Team All-MIVA status in each of his first two seasons of eligibility.
 
Zolg picks up First Team All-MIVA designation for the third time in his career and after missing last year due to injury, has rebounded to produce three doubles-doubles this season, while averaging 10.33 assists, 1.80 digs and 0.50 aces per set. The 6-foot-3 redshirt junior setter, who has quarterbacked Loyola to a 57-20 (.740) overall record in his career, ranks eighth in NCAA Division I-II in assists per set and sixth in the nation in aces per set. Zolg finished the regular season with a flourish, notching 10.37 assists and 3.05 digs per set over the Ramblers' final five matches, and in a five-set loss to Lewis last weekend, he put up 55 assists and 17 digs.
 
Loyola enters this weekend's MIVA Tournament quarterfinal match versus Lindenwood with a 13-5 overall record and has won five of its last seven outings. 
 
The complete list of 2021 MIVA all-conference honors follows.
 
All-MIVA First Team
Quinn Isaacson, Ball State
Kaleb Jenness, Ball State
Ryan Coenen, Lewis
Kevin Kauling, Lewis
Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
Luke Denton, Loyola
Cole Schlothauer, Loyola
Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Ryan Serrano, McKendree
Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
Troy Gooch, Purdue Fort Wayne
Pelegrin Vargas, Purdue Fort Wayne
 
All-MIVA Second Team
Felix Egharevba, Ball State
Blake Reardon, Ball State
Kyle Bugee, Lewis
TJ Murray, Lewis
AJ Lewis, Lindenwood
Diego Negron, Lindenwood
Lucas Galifos, McKendree
Patrick Ross, McKendree
Zach Schnittker, McKendree
Martin Lallemand, Ohio State
Vicente Ibarra, Purdue Fort Wayne
Noam Hannoun, Quincy
 
MIVA Player of the Year
Ryan Coenen, Lewis
 
MIVA Newcomer of the Year
Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
 
MIVA Coach of the Year
Nickie Sanlin, McKendree