LEADING OFF 
No. 8 Loyola Chicago (14-2, 6-2 MIVA) men's volleyball travels to Purdue Fort Wayne for its ninth conference match of the season on Friday, March 14 at 6 p.m. CT. 

QUICK HITS 

• Junior setter Ryan McElligott was named the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career after instrumenting Loyola's offense with 51 assists in the team's sixth conference victory over then-No. 12 Ball State on Friday, March 7. In assists per set, McElligott averages 10.96, making him the MIVA leader and second in the country in the category.
• The Ramblers lead the MIVA in nine categories: points (17.38/set), hitting percentage (.349), assists (12.28/set), kills (13.08/set), service aces (1.85/set), opponent hitting percentage (.220), opponent assists (10.33/set), opponent kills (10.84/set) and opponent service aces (0.97/set).
• Nationally, Loyola ranks fifth in kills per set, sixth in hitting percentage, eighth in aces per set and ninth in blocks per set (2.44).
• Loyola moved up one spot to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, announced by the league on Monday, March 10. 
• Head coach Shane Davis remains the winningest coach in program history with a 278-90 ledger and a .755 winning percentage.    

SCOUTING REPORT 
Purdue Fort Wayne is currently 8-9 overall and 1-7 in MIVA play. The Mastodons' lone conference victory came in a 3-1 win at Queens (Feb. 14). Recently on the road, they took then-No. 13 Lewis to five sets as well as then-No.16 Ohio State before dropping both matches.  

Offensively, Purdue Fort Wayne is led by sophomore opposite Logan Muir with 243 total kills and an average of 4.05 per set, ranking him second in the league and ninth in the nation, while sophomore setter Andrej Polomac has 507 assists on an 8.89/set average. At the net, middle blockers Casey Lyons and Caleb Lipscomb lead the team in blocks with 47.0 and 48.0, respectively.  

SERIES HISTORY 
Loyola leads the overall series with Purdue Fort Wayne 44-24, with the most recent victory coming from a straight set sweep in Chicago (Feb. 20). Prior to, the Ramblers swept the Mastodons in both of their meetings last season. Purdue Fort Wayne's last victory over Loyola was a five-set thriller in 2023 at Gates Sports Center. 

FOLLOW THE ACTION 
Stream the match on ESPN+ and follow men's volleyball on Instagram and X @RamblersMVB for in-game updates.