CHICAGO (February 18, 2023)
 
In Short…
No. 13 Loyola (11-2, 4-0) swept No. 10 Ohio State (10-4, 3-1) Saturday evening at Gentile Arena, 25-20, 25-21, 25-18, as the Ramblers take over sole possession of first place in the MIVA standings. Parker Van Buren tallied a match-high 13 kills and seven digs, while Cole Schlothauer added 12 kills along with nine from Colton Brooks.
 
How it Happened
After edging out a pair of tightly contested sets. Loyola never trailed in the third stanza to clinch its fourth consecutive victory.
 
The opening set featured 11 tied scores and three lead changes, with neither team leading by more than two points, until late in the set. OSU led 17-15 which forced a Loyola timeout, but the Ramblers responded to claim a 19-17 advantage after three Buckeye errors. The Ramblers would close the first set on a 6-2 run, including a successful challenge and three of Van Buren's five kills in the set.
 
The second set continued the back-and-forth, frenzied pace with five lead changes on each side.
 
Loyola raced out to a 6-1 lead after four consecutive kills from Brooks, Van Buren and Dan Mangun while Jimmy Meinhart held serve for all six points. With an early timeout, OSU regrouped and went on a 7-1 run of its own, grabbing an 8-7 lead off an ace. The Buckeyes battled back again from a three-point deficit later on in the set, claiming a 19-18 lead, but the Ramblers hit the gas again down the final stretch with an impressive 7-2 run. Loyola hit a match-high .424 in the second set with six kills recorded by Van Buren.
 
In the final set, Loyola raced out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed again. The Ramblers went up 14-7 on a Van Buren ace and remained comfortably out in front the rest of the way. Mangun ended the night with a kill from his setter position.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Loyola hit .355 (2nd highest in MIVA play) overall while limiting Ohio State to a .198 clip
• The Ramblers totaled 10 team blocks with four players recording at least four block assists
• Mangun finished with 37 assists, four kills and five digs
• The two teams combined for just three aces total on the night (2 by Loyola)
• Cooper Evans logged his fourth ace on the year
• Meinhart tied a career high with four digs and posted three kills
• Nicodemus Meyer tied his career best mark with seven kills for the second straight match
• Samuel Clark led the Buckeyes with 10 kills

Up Next
Loyola heads to local MIVA rival Lewis on Wednesday, before returning to Gentile next Saturday against McKendree.