CHICAGO – Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball lands at No. 2 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) preseason poll and Parker Van Buren is the Preseason Player of the Year while Daniel Fabikovic and Nicodemus Meyer are also named to the Preseason All-MIVA team, as announced by the league on Tuesday.  

With 66 points, the Ramblers tabbed the No. 2 spot behind Ball State; Ohio State, Lewis and McKendree round out the top five, respectively. The MIVA Preseason Poll and All-MIVA Team are voted on by the nine MIVA head coaches. 

Redshirt senior Van Buren was selected to earn MIVA Player of the Year after an outstanding 2024 season where he garnered several accolades including AVCA First Team All-American, All-MIVA First Team, MIVA All-Tournament Team, Academic All-MIVA and he was a Bryan Ivie Award finalist. The six foot nine outside hitter closed out last season with a .364 hitting percentage, ranking him ninth in the nation, and reached the 1,000 career kills milestone early in the season on February 23. Van Buren reached 402 kills last season and averaged 4.28 per set, which placed him fifth among all DI-II student-athletes in the country. He is the first Rambler to be the MIVA Player of the Year since 2015.

Meyer, a senior middle blocker, ranked sixth in the nation and first in the MIVA with 1.14 blocks per set and he accumulated 1.9 blocks with 97 being block assists and 12 being solos. He earned an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, a spot on the All-MIVA Second Team and was named Academic All-MIVA in 2024.  

Sophomore Fabikovic, hailing from the Czech Republic, had a standout debut season with the Ramblers where he racked up 273 kills and led the team with 128 digs. The sophomore outside hitter was awarded MIVA Freshman of the Year and AVCA Freshman of the Year while also tabbing spots on the All-MIVA First Team, AVCA Second Team All-American and Academic All-MIVA. 

Loyola opens its season on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. against Penn State in Gentile Arena. For the complete 2025 men's volleyball schedule, click here.

2025 MIVA Preseason Poll 
1. Ball State - 81 (9) 
2. Loyola Chicago - 66 
3. Ohio State - 60 
4. Lewis - 58 
5. McKendree - 47 
6. Lindenwood - 38 
7. Purdue Fort Wayne - 25 
8. Queens - 20 
9. Quincy - 9 

2025 Preseason All-MIVA 
Patrick Rogers - Ball State 
Tinaishe Ndavazocheva - Ball State 
Raje Alleyne - Ball State 
Max Roquet - Lewis 
Nico Paula - Lewis 
Ian Schuller - Lindenwood 
Daniel Fabikovic - Loyola Chicago 
Nicodemus Meyer - Loyola Chicago 
*Parker Van Buren - Loyola Chicago 
Kevin Schuele - McKendree 
Shane Wetzel - Ohio State 
Cole Young - Ohio State 

*Preseason Player of the Year