LONG BEACH, Calif. (February 3, 2023)
 
In Short…
No. 12 Loyola (7-2) nearly dealt No. 3 Long Beach State (6-0) its first loss, but the Ramblers came up just short in a thrilling five-setter Friday night in front of nearly 1,600 people at the Walter Pyramid. The Ramblers won the first and fourth sets each by a score of 25-23, before falling 17-15 in the deciding frame. Parker Van Buren recorded a season-high 28 kills (.479) and four aces, while Cole Schlothauer notched a season-best 20 kills and nine digs. Setter Dan Mangun registered a career-best 49 assists.
 
How it Happened
Loyola came out strong and grabbed the opening point in impressive fashion, but the Beach stormed back and claimed the 2-1 match lead by taking the second set 25-21, before closing out the third set 25-19 with momentum.
 
However, Loyola responded in the face of adversity and squashed the momentum by jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth stanza. Nicodemus Meyer opened the scoring with a kill and block assist, followed by a pair of Van Buren kills to get things going for the Ramblers.
 
The Beach answered with a 5-0 run, but the Ramblers pulled back within a point on Colton Brooks' sixth kill to make the score 10-9. From there, the Ramblers stayed within a point as neither team could create separation in the tightly contested affair. Another kill from Van Buren put the Ramblers ahead 22-21, followed by two kills from Schlothauer including the clinching point to force the fifth and final set.
 
In Set 5, Loyola claimed its first lead of the frame when a Van Buren kill gave the Ramblers a 3-2 advantage. The Ramblers led twice more with the score at 7-6 and 8-7 in their favor, before the Beach regrouped for a 9-8 edge. Loyola tied the match six more times after that but couldn't find its way back out in front. Sotiris Siapanis, a transfer from Ohio State and former MIVA Newcomer of the Year, clinched the match for Long Beach with the final two kills.
 
Clarke Godbold led the Beach with 20 kills while Siapanis finished with 15 kills and nine digs.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Loyola hit .363 overall in the match including .483 in the fourth set and .500 in the fifth
• The Ramblers surrendered a season-high 21 serving errors while the Beach had 18 errors
• Long Beach hit .370 as a team and .471 in the deciding set
• Loyola tied its season-high with 12.5 team blocks for the second night in a row
• Mangun and Van Buren each tallied a career-best five block assists

Up Next
Loyola opens MIVA play next week with road matches at Quincy (Fri.) and Lindenwood (Sat.).