NEWARK, N.J. (January 20, 2023)
 
In Short…
The No. 11 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team earned its fourth consecutive win in straight sets after defeating NJIT 25-21, 25-19, 25-19 in Friday night's road opener. Cole Schlothauer (Mechanicsville, Va.) led the way with 11 kills (.400) as the Ramblers improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2021 campaign.
 
How it Happened
Loyola started strong in its road debut, racing out to a seven-point lead when Nicodemus Meyer (Franklin, Wis.) logged his first of three solo blocks on the night, forcing an NJIT timeout with the score at 12-5. From there, the Highlanders battled back to get within a point but another solo block from Meyer, combined with back-to-back kills from Schlothauer and Colton Brooks (Pleasanton, Calif), put the Ramblers ahead for good. Cooper Evans (Glenview, Ill.) came on to serve up the final point as Schlothauer finished the stanza with five kills.
 
Then, NJIT controlled the majority of Set 2 as the homestanding Highlanders looked to even the match.

After falling behind 3-0, the Ramblers pulled back within a point at 5-4 and again at 10-9, before NJIT pulled back in front by four points with the score at 15-11. Loyola eventually gathered momentum as Jimmy Meinhart's (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) ace gave the Ramblers their first lead at 17-16, before the Maroon & Gold closed the frame with an impressive 7-1 run sparked by a Dan Mangun (Joliet, Ill.) ace. Both teams logged match-high hitting percentages in the second set, with Loyola recording a mark of .429 to NJIT's .292.
 
Loyola rode the momentum into the final set and moved out to a 6-2 lead, before going ahead 14-9 on back-to-back NJIT attacking errors to force a timeout from the home team. The Ramblers held a comfortable lead the rest of the way as the lead swelled to 18-12 following a kill by Brooks, who registered a team-high four kills in the third frame. A block from Meinhart and Mangun set up the match point which came off a service error by the Highlanders.

Inside the Numbers

• Loyola hit a season-low .257 overall in the match, but put down a season-high 10 total blocks
• NJIT hit .161 overall as a team with Julian Meissner leading with 10 kills
• Schlothauer posted his second straight double-digit kills performance, moving to 3.63 kills per set and stellar .412 hitting percentage this season
• Meyer totaled a career-high five blocks and three block solos
• Mangun tallied 24 assists and picked up a career-high four block assists
• Both teams produced three service aces
• The Ramblers have won five straight road matches dating back to last season, with the previous four in straight sets

Up Next
Loyola closes out the trip with tomorrow night's match at LIU, hosted in Brooklyn, N.Y.