CHICAGO – No. 8 Loyola Chicago swept Mount Olive, 3-0, on Saturday, Jan. 25 to remain undefeated on its home court and complete the weekend sweep. The Ramblers controlled the match from start to finish, highlighted by strong serving, relentless defense and timely offense to lead them to their sixth straight victory.   

"Last week, we focused little bit more on block and defense then this week, we focused on some side out, incorporating a little bit more "bic and quick", which I thought we did a good job with that tonight. Tonight's real focus was, 'how can we better prep on both sides of the ball,'" said head coach Shane Davis. "Defensively, we did a much better job of picking up some of the tips and roll shots and converting those and last night, we didn't convert those plays, where tonight we converted those opportunities." 

How It Happened 
Set One: Mount Olive opened the match on 3-0 run, but Loyola quickly responded with its defensive presence. Senior duo Nicodemus Meyer and Parker Van Buren combined for a big block to put the Ramblers on the board, followed by a solo block from Brad Bell. This sparked Loyola's offense as Van Buren and Jake Read delivered back-to-back kills to push the team ahead. Van Buren then took over at the service line, firing off four consecutive aces, to extend Loyola's lead, 11-4. Meyer anchored the defensive effort with three blocks, while Ryan McElligott controlled the back row with four digs and facilitated the offense with five assists. The Ramblers closed the first set, 25-10, in just 17 minutes, finishing with a Bell kill and another Van Buren service ace.  

Set Two: The second set saw Mount Olive battle back, staying within reach throughout. The frame featured four lead changes and nine tied scores as both teams exchanged runs. Midway through the set, the Ramblers found separation with a three-point surge, highlighted by McElligott serving back-to-back aces, matching his season-high, and put Loyola up, 19-15. After a Mount Olive timeout, the Trojans responded with a quick kill, but the Ramblers countered with three consecutive points; back-to-back kills from Meyer and Van Buren then capped by Daniel Fabikovic's first service ace of the match. Lukas Anderson added another service ace before Van Buren sealed the set with a blistering kill, securing it 25-19 and putting the 'Blers up, 2-0.  

Set Three: Loyola kept its foot on the gas in the third and final frame, despite an early 8-4 Mount Olive lead after a series of attack and service errors on both sides of the net. The Ramblers steadied, and the set remained tight with three lead changes and seven tied scores. A turning point came in the middle of the frame when Fabikovic delivered two straight service aces, pushing Loyola ahead, 10-9. Both teams traded points down the stretch, but the Ramblers pulled away late behind critical kills from Read and Fabikovic, while Meyer continued to impose his presence at the net with key blocks. Tyler Howard served a clutch service ace to put Loyola up, 23-18, and though the Trojans made a final push and had a successful challenge, the Ramblers clinched the match, 25-22, with a kill from McElligott.  

Inside the Box Score 

• The team served a record-setting 14 aces – the most since at least 2017.  
• The Ramblers held the Trojans to a .181 hitting percentage while racking up 8.0 total blocks.
• Van Buren and Meyer combined for double-digit kills (17) and 10 block assists.  
• Read hit a season-high eight kills, and added five digs, two assists, an ace and one block assist.  
• Davis is now 270-88 in the Maroon and Gold.  

Up Next 
The Ramblers take their first road trip to face No. 11 Pepperdine on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. CT in Malibu, Calif. then travel south to No. 14 UC San Diego to take on the Trojans on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. CT.