CHICAGO – In a gritty battle inside Gentile Arena, No. 8 Loyola Chicago overcame an early deficit to defeat No. 17 Ohio State, 3-1, in four sets on Thursday, March 20. The Ramblers, now 16-2 overall and 8-2 in league play, fed their energy off an electric crowd of over 1,000 fans.   

"The crowd was awesome. It's huge in those post momentum points, and we finally gave them something after the set one to cheer about," said head coach Shane Davis. "I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm, a couple three to four service errors in a row, maybe a couple clean aces on our part, serve-receive standpoint. Our guys did a really good job weathering those moments, rebounding and then getting our own runs on our own." 

How It Happened 
Set One: Ohio State started strong, capitalizing on Loyola's defensive gaps, and built an early lead. The Buckeyes built an early lead, but a triple block by Daniel Fabikovic, Parker Van Buren and Nicodemus Meyer helped the Ramblers close the gap to two points, 12-10. Late in the set, Ohio State continued to find open space for kills, and an ace by Stanislaw Chacinski sealed the opening frame for the Buckeyes, 25-21. 

Set Two: The Buckeyes once again jumped out to a quick lead, but the Ramblers responded behind Van Buren who led the set with six kills. A pair of kills from Meyer, both assisted by Ryan McElligott, evened the set at 14-14. Lukas Anderson's ace gave Loyola its first lead of the match and the Ramblers were rolling from there. Loyola surged ahead on a 4-0 run, with Fabikovic delivering the final kill and Cooper Evans closing out the set, 25-19, with an ace.  

Set Three: Despite controlling the early stages of the third frame with a 6-3 lead, Ohio State couldn't stop Loyola's momentum. Both teams traded runs and the Ramblers, fueled by kills from Van Buren and Fabikovic and two aces from McElligott, scored four straight points to surpass the Buckeyes' set point. A clutch block by Van Buren and Meyer set up Loyola's set point and an Ohio State attack error handed over the frame, 26-24.  

Set Four: Ohio State struck first, but Loyola quickly answered as Van Buren continued to dominate the attack orchestrated by McElligott, giving the Ramblers a slight edge. The Buckeyes clawed back to tie the set at 19-19, but Fabikovic's timely kill put the 'Blers back in the lead. With the match hanging in the balance at 22-22, Van Buren delivered another kill, and an ace from Fabikovic set up match point. A block from the tandem of Van Buren and Meyer sealed the final frame, 25-22, to give Loyola the victory.  

Inside the Box Score 

• Van Buren had the match-high 19 kills on .486 hitting, and added four block assists, three service aces and two digs.  
• McElligott instrumented Loyola's offense with 45 assists while contributing six digs, three kills, three block assists and two service aces.  
• Evans recorded a career high two service aces.  
• Fabikovic ended the night with 17 kills on .414 hitting, four assists, three block assists and one ace.  
• Meyer capped his night with eight kills on .727, one shy of his season and career high, and led the charge at the net with six block assists.  

Up Next 
The Ramblers stay home to host No. 7 CSUN on Saturday, March 22 at 5 p.m. CT.