CHICAGO (January 12, 2023)
 
In Short…
Loyola (2-0) continued its hot start to the season with a 3-0 sweep over King (0-3), 25-20, 25-20, 25-18, Thursday afternoon inside Gentile Arena. Parker Van Buren and Colton Brooks each tallied nine kills to lead the Ramblers on the day.
 
How it Happened
Loyola led the entire opening set after jumping out to a 10-5 lead as back-to-back kills from Brooks and Van Buren opened the scoring. An ace delivered by Brad Bell gave the Ramblers a 16-11 advantage and the lead swelled to as much as seven when another ace from Cooper Evans made it 21-14. Jack Yentz registered the set-clinching point on his third kill of the frame. Loyola hit a match-high .542 in the opening stanza with four kills each from Brooks and Van Buren, and three apiece by Yentz and Bell.
 
In the second set, Loyola overcame a 15-13 deficit behind the serving prowess of Van Buren, who tallied three aces during a late 6-0 run that carried the Ramblers to the second-set victory. Back-to-back kills from Brooks, who led the team with three kills, and Yentz sealed the second frame for Loyola.
 
Loyola fell behind by a couple points early in the third frame but generated momentum with back-to-back kills from Nicodemus Meyer to move ahead 12-9. The Ramblers eventually went ahead 20-13 on Josh Gottlieb's ace and closed the match on another kill by Meyer, who totaled all six of his kills in the final set.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Meyer (6 kills) and Bell (5 kills) each registered new career-high kill totals
• Van Buren posted a new career-high with 5 aces
• Loyola hit .333 overall in team hitting percentage while limiting King to a .156 mark
• The Ramblers totaled 13 aces in the match, led by Van Buren, and including two each from Yentz and Brooks
• Dan Mangun finished with a team-high 23 assists while Brian Voight added 15 helpers
• Three players recorded four digs, including Mangun, Yentz and JJ Sowa
• King's Warren Davis led the visitors with nine kills

Up Next
Loyola hosts UC San Diego tomorrow night in Gentile with a 7 p.m. CT first serve.