Before Loyola Chicago ever won championships, packed Gentile Arena or became a national powerhouse, there was only a promise.  

Prior to 1995-96, the university didn’t have a men’s volleyball program; there were no banners, no tradition, no proof that it would work. Just a coach selling belief and a handful of players willing to bet on something that didn’t exist yet.  

“We had to sell belief before we had results,” Gordon Mayforth, the Ramblers’ head coach from 1995-2002, said.  

Among the first to buy in was attacker Matt Bennett, who would become the program’s inaugural captain in his senior year. When he first heard Loyola might elevate men’s volleyball from a club sport to the Division I level, it solidified his college selection instantly. But even after he enrolled, nothing felt guaranteed.  

“There was a time when this thing was seriously at risk,” Bennett said. “We were betting on it and saying, ‘even if it doesn’t happen, we’ll be okay playing club at Loyola,’ because we were the high academic kids.”  

Thanks to the efforts of former Loyola athletics staff like athletics director Chuck Schwartz, senior woman administrator Carolyn O’Connell, women’s volleyball head coach Therese Boyle, Mayforth and Bennett, the bet paid off. 

In January 1996, as part of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), Loyola took the court for the first season in program history – the first page in what would become three decades of Rambler men’s volleyball.  

Starting a Division I program from scratch required more than recruiting a roster; it required standards.  

From the beginning, Mayforth insisted Loyola operate like an established program. Travel, training and preparation – nothing would feel improvised.  

“If you’re going to do it, you do it right from day one,” he said.  

And Bennett felt it immediately.  

“It felt like we were part of a professional program from day one,” he said. “There was a standard set: you’ve got to work hard and be grateful for this opportunity.” 

The standard extended off the court too. Loyola’s academic reputation mattered, and Bennett embraced the responsibility as captain.  

“I wanted Loyola to be that Notre Dame-type of program, with high standards across the board.”  

Mayforth, who was the premier boys club coach at the time, also had to recruit without proof. He was asking players and their families to trust in something they couldn’t see yet.  

The players he assembled justified that faith almost immediately. Among the freshmen class are players with their names still inked in today’s record book: Marcos Cordova, Ted Groves, Tom Papp and Dan Schultz.  

“There were a lot of good players on that first team. Dan Schultz was like lightning in human form,” Pete Mikos, another freshman on the ‘96 team, said. “We were fortunate with the guys that decided to come play at Loyola and the quality of character on the team.” 

The 1996 roster wasn’t just foundational – it was memorable.  

The team had edge and charisma, they were well-liked on campus and they had fun. Bennett was dubbed “The Godfather” while Schultz was nicknamed “The Unit” and Derek Boyle went by “D-Bow.”  

Practices were intense, and sometimes chaotic, especially when Mayforth organized drills that heavily advantaged the second-string team, “the deuces,” to beat up on the starters.  

Talent wasn’t lacking, and the group’s chemistry and confidence gave the young program an identity.   

Another character in the story that gave recognition to the team was Alumni Gym.  

The iconic venue was cramped, loud and unforgiving. Bleachers pressed up against the service lines and team benches surrounded by dangling legs of fans from the track above. Opponents had nowhere to hide.  

“Teams hated playing there,” Mayforth said with a grin. “It was the brown box that rocked.” 

Men’s volleyball crowds grew quickly, and Alumni Gym had nightly sellouts, packing over 1,500 fans to the brim.  

From his seat at the scorer’s table, Loyola alum Jim Peyton, better known as “Scoop,” had a front-row view of the chaos. Hired on the table crew for basketball and women’s volleyball in 1983, Peyton would go on to keep the official men’s volleyball scorebook for 28 seasons.  

“Playing in old alumni gym, there was nothing better than that,” he said.  

Sometimes it was so loud that you could hardly hear former PA Bruce Kite, who had the infamous phrase, “and the point goes to...” then the crowd joined in, “the Ramblers!” 

That inaugural team finished 14-14, and the program has still never had a losing season.  

“Even 14 and 14 is pretty damn good for a first year out of the gate,” Bennett said. “And it’s because Gordon [Mayforth] recruited a bunch of studs.” 

The Ramblers weren’t just competitive; they were legit. Mayforth knew it, the players felt it and the school started to believe it. 

Players graduated, coaches changed and Alumni Gym eventually gave way to Gentile Arena. Through it all, one seat rarely changed – the one at the scorer’s table.  

“I’ve watched generations come through this program,” Peyton said. 

From 1996 through 2024, he recorded every set, every rally, every name. Peyton watched the sport itself evolve, from bigger athletes to a faster pace and eventually national prominence.  

What once felt like a program building credibility became one winning championships and raising banners, including 47 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American selections, eight MIVA titles, four NCAA tournament appearances and back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015.   

Mayforth set the program's foundation for current head coach Shane Davis to carry forward the same blueprint established in 1996, building championship-caliber teams and recruiting high-character student-athletes who value academics as much as competition. 

Davis was one of Mayforth's earliest recruits, redshirting his freshman year before becoming a standout setter, and later taking over the program at just 23 years old. As a student-athlete, coach and administrator, Davis has become both a product and a steward of the standard first set by that inaugural team. 

“The reason I’m most proud of it is when you think about 30 years of kids who had the opportunity to play volleyball at the DI level without compromising the caliber of the school they wanted to go to,” Bennett said.  

On March 7 when Loyola faces Purdue Fort Wayne at 7 p.m., members of the 1996 team return to campus to be honored as the foundation of something enduring.  

Thirty years ago, the Ramblers’ first men’s volleyball roster was dependent on belief and little bit of risk. Today, the program has become what it is because it’s standing on the shoulders of those who came before them.