LEADING OFF 
No. 1 seed Loyola Chicago (23-3, 13-3 MIVA) hosts the No. 4 seed Lewis in the MIVA Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. inside Gentile Arena. The Ramblers are ranked sixth nationally, per the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) while the Flyers are No. 14.  

QUICK HITS 

• In the MIVA quarterfinals, Loyola downed Queens in straight sets on Saturday, April 19 inside Gentile Arena. The Ramblers recorded six service aces and out blocked the Royals, 8-5.  
• The Ramblers finished with their best conference record (13-3) since 2015 when the team went 14-2 in MIVA play and marked the first 20-win regular season since 2023.  
• For the second consecutive year, Parker Van Buren was named the MIVA Player of the Year and became just the second player in program history to do so, and the third to claim four All-MIVA First Team roster spots.   
• Nicodemus Meyer, Ryan McElligott and Daniel Fabikovic joined Van Buren on the All-MIVA First Team which marked the first time four Ramblers made the all-conference first team since 2018 and fourth overall in program history.  
• Loyola is the league leader in 10 categories: points (17.62/set), hitting percentage (3.64), assists (12.43/set), kills (13.26/set), blocks (2.55/set), service aces (1.80/set), opponent hitting percentage (.221), opponent assists (10.26/set), opponent kills (10.77/set) and opponent service aces (0.94).   
• Head coach Shane Davis remains the winningest coach in program history with a 287-91 ledger and a .759 winning percentage.           

SCOUTING REPORT 
Lewis finished the regular season 22-8 overall and 11-5 in MIVA play to finish fifth in the conference standings and claim the fourth seed in the tournament. The Flyers hosted the No. 5-seeded Ball State Cardinals for their quarterfinal match and bested them in a five-set thriller to advance to the tournament semifinals. Lewis out blocked Ball State 16 to 7.5.  

The Flyers were led offensively by All-MIVA First Teamer Oguzhan Oguz with 22 kills on .340 hitting and added seven block assists, six digs and one service ace. Shawn Baggs Jr. led the team with eight block assists and one solo while contributing five kills on .333 hitting. All-conference second teamer Tyler Morgan instrumented the offense with 46 assists.  

SERIES HISTORY 
The Ramblers lead the all-time series 41-31 with the Flyers. In this year's regular season, Loyola went 0-2 against Lewis, falling 3-1 in the first meeting on Feb. 27 in Chicago then getting swept 3-0 on April 10 in Romeoville, Ill. Wednesday's semifinals is the first time the two programs will meet in the post season since 2021 when the Flyers defeated the Ramblers 3-0 in the tournament championship.  

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