LEADING OFF 
No. 8 Loyola Chicago caps an eight-match homestand with a pair of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) matches against Queens on Friday, March 13 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, March 14 at 5 p.m.  

QUICK HITS 

• Junior middle Aidan Klein is second in the league and in the NCAA with a .511 average hitting clip, and he ranks fifth in blocks/set (.91). 
• Among starters, junior outside Daniel Fabikovic is the team leader with 2.80 kills/set on .249 hitting while contributing 1.71 digs/set and .46 blocks/set.  
• As a team, Loyola ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.319) and in kills (12.87/set), and is fourth in points (16.67/set) and assists (12.05/set).  
• The Ramblers have won six American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 matches so far this season: Hawai'i (No. 2), Stanford (No. 11), UC San Diego (No. 11), McKendree (No. 13), Ohio State (No. 13) and Ball State (No. 9).  
• Head coach Shane Davis reached 300 wins after defeating Ball State earlier this month (March 5). The Loyola alum is in his 14th season at the helm of the program.  

SCOUTING REPORT 
Queens is 6-11 overall and 1-7 in MIVA play. The Royals' last victory came in its sole conference win, a 3-2 marathon match against then-No. 11 Ohio State (Feb. 15). Sophomore outside Casey Maas leads the offense with 2.95 kills per set, good for 10th in the league, while redshirt junior setter Charlie Podgorny paces the attack behind 8.35 assists per set, placing him seventh in the MIVA. Defensively, senior middle Nathan Vaupel ranks ninth in the conference with .82 blocks per set.  

SERIES HISTORY  
Loyola holds all the wins in the series against Queens with seven and has never dropped a set to the conference opponent. The Ramblers and Royals met for the first time in 2021 and most recently in last season's MIVA Tournament quarterfinals, where Loyola swept Queens inside Gentile Arena.  

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