CHICAGO – In front a rowdy crowd of over 1,800 fans, No. 6 Loyola Chicago defeated No. 17 Ball State 4-1 on senior day to clinch its share of the regular season championship on Saturday, April 12 inside Gentile Arena. 

"I can speak as an alum and I'm incredibly proud of the group and proud of the program. We had so many alums in the stands and the teams that we were able to honor tonight. The sustainability of that success over a long period of time just shows the support of Loyola with the program, and a testament to the guys and the culture that they've created year after year after year," said head coach Shane Davis.  

How It Happened  
Set One: The Ramblers came out firing in the opening set, maintaining their lead throughout aside from the very first point and a few tied scores. Senior Parker Van Buren nailed the first kill for Loyola, set up by Ryan McElligott. Nicodemus Meyer, another senior, made a solo block to put Loyola up, 4-2 then Jake Read added two kills to keep the Ramblers ahead. Several service and attacking errors on both sides gave up points. Ryan McElligott and Brad Bell combined for a block before graduate student Jackson Reed subbed in to serve, scoring back-to-back points for the 'Blers. Read notched the kill for set point which was fought off by Ball State before Loyola clinched the set, 25-23 on a service error.  

Set Two: Powerful hitting on both sides of the net and clean serving made for a nail-biting second set which saw 10 tied scores and three lead changes. Loyola led for the majority of the set, but Ball State stayed within reach throughout. The Ramblers recorded four aces in the frame, courtesy of Lukas Anderson and Read with one each while Reed had a season-high two. The Cardinals scored four straight points to tie the set at 23 all. A service error put Loyola at its first set point, staved off by a kill from Ball State's Patrick Rogers. The Ramblers were back at set point for the second time after Daniel Fabikovic ended a long rally with a clutch kill. Then the Cardinals fought off two more set points before taking the frame, 29-27.  

Set Three: In a decisive third set, Ball State opened the scoring before Read tallied the first kill for Loyola. With the Cardinals up by one at 6-5, Meyer clocked the leveling kill on an assist from McElligott then the Ramblers were up 11-9 after a Cardinals service error. Read added another ace and a strike from Brad Bell put Loyola ahead, 20-15. Ball State clawed back and knotted the score at 22-22 before Van Buren recorded the set point kill. An attack error gave Loyola the set, 25-22, and a 2-1 advantage.  

Set Four: Another neck-and-neck set, and the loudest one yet, kept everyone guessing, but the Ramblers' strong serve receive and dominant presence at the net powered them through the frame. Meyer and Read jumped for a block to push Loyola ahead 10-8 and shortly after Read and Bell combined for an electric stuff that sent the crowd roaring. With the score tied at 17-17, the Ramblers called a timeout and after the break McElligott served up an ace. Another ace from Fabikovic gave Loyola a 21-18 cushion and his clean kill set up match point. With Read at the service line, Ball State tried to send it back over but were denied by a triple block from McElligott, Bell and Fabikovic and the Ramblers won the set 25-21.  

Inside the Box Score 

• The Ramblers totaled 11 blocks, with five coming in the first frame.  
• Loyola served eight aces with Reed and Read tallying two while Van Buren, McElligott, Fabikovic and Anderson each added one.  
• Van Buren led the match on 22 kills and McElligott was the assist-leader with 44.  
• Meyer and Bell had five blocks apiece and McElligott added four.  

Up Next 
With the victory, the Ramblers clinched the No. 1 seed in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament and are set to host the first round on Saturday, April 19 against No. 8-seeded Queens.