ST. LOUIS, Mo. (February 11, 2023)
 
In Short…
The 13th-ranked Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team (9-2, 2-0 MIVA) pulled out a five-set win at Lindenwood (3-6, 1-1 MIVA) Saturday night: 25-21, 25-23, 17-25, 28-30, 15-12. Parker Van Buren led with 23 kills and Cole Schlothauer added 19 kills with nine digs. Setter Dan Mangun recorded 44 assists and nine digs while libero Matt Oakley tied his career-best dig total with 12.
 
How it Happened
After Loyola claimed the first two sets, Lindenwood avoided the sweep by building a 12-5 lead in the third, with half of those points coming from Rambler miscues, and closed it out to keep the match alive. Loyola never trailed in the second frame while Lindenwood never fell behind in the third.
 
Then, the fourth set seemed headed the same way with Lindenwood grabbing a five-point lead at 12-7, but Loyola rallied to even the score. The Lions took a 6-5 lead off a service error and remained in front until the Ramblers fought back to even the score at 19-19. Van Buren put the Ramblers ahead at 20-19 as he notched 10 kills in set, and a Lindenwood attack error followed to give Loyola its largest lead at 21-19, forcing a Lindenwood timeout. The rest of Set 4 featured a ton of back-and-forth action with 10 ties and six lead changes. Loyola had three set-point opportunities, but couldn't capitalize before Lindenwood squeaked out a 30-28 triumph.
 
In the deciding set, Loyola played from behind again but this time overcame a 9-4 deficit by closing the match with an impressive 11-3 run. A huge block from Mangun, Jimmy Meinhart and Jack Yentz set the tone, with back-to-back kills from Meinhart and Schlothauer to pull back within one point at 9-8, forcing a Lindenwood timeout. A kill from Mangun put the Ramblers on top, 12-11, before Van Buren sealed the match with the final kill. Five different players registered kills in the final set as the Ramblers hit over .400 while limiting the Lions to a zero percentage.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Loyola hit .227 overall and Lindenwood hit .211
• Van Buren logged his second 20-kill performance this season
• Oakley (12) and Meinhart (4) tallied career highs in digs
• Nicodemus Meyer logged his first career ace & tied his career high with three digs
• Yentz tied his previous career high with three blocks
• Loyola gathered a season-best 49 digs and three block solos (Meyer 2, Van Buren 1)
• Loyola had three aces, tying its season low, along with a season-high 23 service errors

 
Up Next
Loyola will host Ball State (Thursday – 7 p.m.) and Ohio State (Saturday – 7 p.m.) next week.