CHICAGO – In front of a roaring crowd inside Gentile Arena, Loyola Chicago (24-3, 13-3 MIVA) downed Lewis in straight sets to clinch its spot in the MIVA Tournament Championship match for the first time since 2021 on Wednesday, April 23. The Ramblers were poised and precise, powered by sharp serving and clean hitting. 

"We've struggled to play a clean game against Lewis this season, and they've done some great things to make us feel uncomfortable, but we've prepped really well on all those things that made us uncomfortable this week in practice, leading up to this. The guys executed so well on exactly what we worked on and exactly what Lewis was trying to do to us, and has done with us before," said head coach Shane Davis. "The message tonight was to take each play as its own and for what it is, but win when it matters, and that's what the message was today. It's 'Hey, we're a program that wins when it matters and to have the confidence to go on the floor to win that match tonight.'"

How It Happened 
Set One: Parker Van Buren opened the scoring in set one and Jake Read quickly followed, hammering one down to put the Ramblers up, 4-3. Loyola started to pull away after Brad Bell and Ryan McElligott jumped for a block to cushion the lead further, 7-4, then Jake Read went on a 3-0 serving run to force a Flyers' timeout. After the break, Nicodemus Meyer and Daniel Fabikovic roofed another kill attempt and pushed Loyola ahead, 11-6 and the Ramblers never looked back. Van Buren capped a long rally with another kill, his fifth in the frame, assisted by JJ Sowa. McElligott went a serving run of his own, helping the Ramblers to four more points before Meyer stuffed Max Roquet at the net. Another strike from Van Buren put Loyola at set point and Meyer secured it, 25-15, on an ace.  

Set Two: Three consecutive service errors started off the second set then Meyer recorded the first kill of the frame. Van Buren found open space for his first then Meyer added his third ace of the night for a career high. Fabikovic added back-to-back kills to put Loyola up, 13-10, before Lewis clawed to make it a tie game. The remainder of the set was neck-and-neck with both sides trading points, McElligott recorded his second kill of the match on an assist from Read. Lewis found its first lead at 18-17 since they were up early in the set at 2-1. A sneaky kill from Bell put the Ramblers at set point and a roof from him and McElligott gave them the set, 25-23, and a 2-0 advantage. The second set totaled 12 tied scores and three lead changes. 

Set Three: In the third and final frame, Van Buren stayed sharp, adding eight more kills on a .533 clip. It was another back-and-forth frame that kept everyone guessing. With the Flyers up at 9-6, the Ramblers called a timeout and dialed back in after the break, capping a long rally with a triple block by Read, Van Buren and Bell. While Lewis maintained a slight lead for the majority of the set, Loyola stayed within reach throughout and Bell knotted it up at 10-10. Read slammed one down before the Flyers gave up three points from service errors. Bell hammered another kill then Van Buren served back-to-back aces for the lead. Read added an ace of his own and Meyer notched a kill to put the Ramblers at set point. With the entire arena on their feet, Van Buren clinched the match, 25-23, to advance Loyola to its first tournament championship appearance since 2021. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Meyer marked a career high three aces while adding two block assists and one solo, and three kills.
• Van Buren led the match by a mile with 22 kills on .436 hitting and recorded two service aces. 
• Read was the difference maker, marking eight kills with zero errors on .667 hitting. He also contributed seven perfect receptions, six digs, two assists, one block assist and one ace.

Up Next 
Loyola will take on No. 3-seeded Ohio State in the title match on Saturday, April 26 inside Gentile Arena.