#6 Loyola Edges #4 Ohio State in Five; George Mason Tops SFU

No. 6 Loyola climbed out of a 2-0 deficit to upset No. 4 Ohio State at home

#6 Loyola Chicago def. #4 Ohio State 3-2 (20-25, 15-25, 25-21, 25-23, 17-15)

• Loyola moves to 12-3, 5-1 MIVA; Ohio State falls to 11-4, 4-2 MIVA
• Chicago, Illinois
• Box Score
• Ohio State Recap / Loyola Recap

Key Stats: The Buckeyes came out on top in hitting efficiency (.368 to .310), kills (63-50) and aces (14-9), but it was not enough. Loyola won the block 8-2.

Stat Leaders: Junior outside Collin Mahan (13), senior outside Ryan Jamison (10), junior middle Paul Narup (10) and senior middle Jeff Jendryk (9) split the offensive load for Loyola. Narup hit at a team-best .653 clip and put up a team-high five blocks. Jamison and Jendryk each served up two aces alongside freshman setter Garrett Zolg.

Redshirt freshman opposite Jake Hanes put down a match-high 21 kills and a team-best two blocks, while senior outside Nicolas Szerszen chipped in a 20-kill, 10 digs double-double and three aces to pace the Buckeyes. Redshirt junior middle Blake Leeson followed with eight kills on a .727 hitting effort (8-0-11). Junior setter Sanil Thomas notched a 57-assist, 10 dig double-double.

It Was Over When: In the decisive fifth set, Ohio State scored three of the first four points and led 8-5 at the changeover. Three Rambler miscues and two Hanes kills gave the Buckeyes the three-point lead. Loyola tied it up at 10 on a Ricky Gevis ace and kills by three different players. The teams split the next 10 points, with Ohio State getting two cracks at the match at 14-13 and 15-14 after Rambler errors. A Gevis kill knotted it up at 15 and a hitting error and Jake Freeman ace stole away the 17-15 win and sealed the upset.

#20 George Mason def. #16 Saint Francis 3-1 (25-13, 25-14, 15-25, 28-26)

• George Mason moves to 8-7, 4-0 EIVA; Saint Francis falls to 7-10, 2-3 EIVA
• Loretto, Pennsylvania
• Box Score
• George Mason Recap / Saint Francis Recap

Key Stats: Despite a blip in Set 3, the Patriots hit .400 or better in the other three sets, including a .619 effort in Set 2. All told, GMU hit .343 for the match ahead of the Red Flash’s .245 effort, while also besting SFU in kills (53-40) and aces (6-2). Both teams put up seven blocks.

Stat Leaders: Junior outside Kyle Barnes (14), redshirt senior outside Christian Malias (13) and sophomore opposite Hayden Wagner (11) posted double-digit kill tallies to pace the Patriot offense. Barnes hit at a team-best .500 clip and put up a team-leading four blocks. Wagner added three blocks and two aces, while senior setter Brian Negron served up three aces to go with 43 assists.

Senior outside Brandon Buck and redshirt senior outside Stephen Braswell led the Red Flash with 11 and 10 kills respectively, while also turning in two blocks apiece. Senior middle Keith Kegerreis added six kills on a .750 hitting effort (6-0-8), while notching a team-high three blocks and an ace.

It Was Over When: In a set that featured 14 ties, the match came down to the wire. Neither side owned more than a three point edge, with Saint Francis boasting the biggest lead at 20-17 after a kill and a block by Kegerreis. Down 22-19, George Mason came back with three straight points, including a Negron ace. An Evan Feltz kill gave the Red Flash the first set point try at 24-23 and a second at 25-24. A Barnes kill and Wagner ace brought the first match point attempt for GMU at 26-25. A Kegerreis kill tied it up at 26, but Barnes and Malias came through with putdowns to seal the 28-26 Patriot victory.

#9 Lewis def. McKendree (RV) 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16)

• Lewis moves to 11-4, 5-1 MIVA; McKendree falls to 6-8, 3-3 MIVA)
• Romeoville, Illinois
• Box Score
• Lewis Recap / McKendree Recap

Key Stats: McKendree managed one more kill than Lewis (42-41), but that was not enough to guide the Bearcats to a victory. The Flyers led .299 to .136 in hitting efficiency, 6-4 in aces and 9.5 to 7 in blocks to more than make up the difference.

Stat Leaders: Redshirt freshman middle Tyler Mitchem was the lone Flyer in double-digits, but had plenty of help offensively as three other players added seven or more putaways. Mitchem downed 12 kills, while hitting at a .667 clip (12-2-15) and putting up a team-best four stuffs. Redshirt sophomore outside Ryan Coenen (8), redshirt junior opposite Mitch Perinar (8) and redshirt freshman middle TJ Murray (7) followed offensively. Murray hit .778 (7-0-9) and managed four blocks, while Coenen also added four stuffs.

Senior outside Nolan Rueter notched 13 kills, while hitting at a team-best .333 clip and adding a team-high five digs. Redshirt freshman outside Ethan Carroll chipped in 10 kills, four digs and three blocks, but hit just .077 for the match. Redshirt senior middle Brendan Schmidt put down five kills and added a team-high four blocks and two of the team’s four aces.

It Was Over When: Lewis built an early five-point lead in the fourth set, but had to fend off a mid-set rally by the Bearcats en route to the win. Trailing 10-5 after committing six miscues, McKendree rebounded with seven of the next nine points to tie it up at 12-all. Three Flyer errors and two kills by Carroll fueled the Bearcat rally. Lewis answered with an 11-1 run, including two kills and two blocks by Perinar, two Coenen putaways and an ace by Matt Yoshimoto, which made it 23-13 and put the match out of reach. A Murray kill pushed it to 24-14 and a service error sealed the win three points later.

 #8 Penn State def. Charleston (RV) 3-0 (25-21, 25-20 25-15)

• Penn State moves to 9-3, 4-1 EIVA; Charleston falls to 8-2, 3-1 EIVA)
• University Park, Pennsylvania
• Box Score
• Charleston Recap / Penn State Recap

Key Stats: After falling victim to an upset on Friday, Penn State snapped back into form, hitting at a .446 clip in a quick sweep of Charleston on Saturday. The Nittany Lions outdid the Eagles in every statistical category: kills (37-28), efficiency (.446 to .174), aces (9-4) and blocks (8-6).

Stat Leaders: It was a balanced offense with six players notching four or more kills that paced the Nittany Lions. Redshirt senior outside Aiden Albrecht was tops on the team with eight kills and three aces, while redshirt senior middle Kevin Gear added seven putaways on a .778 hitting effort (7-0-9) to go with a team-best three blocks. Redshirt junior outside Matthew McLaren (6), redshirt senior opposite Jalen Penrose (6), redshirt sophomore opposite Calvin Mende (5) and redshirt freshman opposite Kyle Mackiewicz (4) rounded out the offense with each hitting .222 or better. Penrose also turned in five aces and three blocks.

Freshman outside Max Senica downed a match-high nine kills, hit at a .375 clip and put up two blocks and an ace, but it was not enough for Charleston. Three other players – freshman opposite Ian Barker, sophomore middle Adriel Roberts and junior outside Brandon Greenway – added four kills apiece.

It Was Over When: The Nittany Lions dominated the final stanza, hitting at an errorless .556 clip (10-0-18), while holding Charleston to a .080 effort. PSU ran out to a 9-3 lead, including a pair of Mackiewicz putaways and two aces by Albrecht. A stuff by Penrose and Luke Braswell and a Mackiewicz ace pushed the advantage to eight at 13-5, one which Charleston could not overcome. Another Mackiewicz kill made it 20-10 PSU, but the Eagles had one more rally in them.  scoring three straight including two Barker kills to pull within seven at 21-14. Penn State wrapped up the match with a 4-1 run, three points of which came on Charleston miscues. A service error marked the final blow.

#15 Fort Wayne def. Quincy 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 24-26, 15-9)

• Fort Wayne moves to 11-4, 3-3 MIVA; Quincy falls to 8-9, 0-6 MIVA
• Quincy, Illinois
• Box Score
• Fort Wayne Recap / Quincy Recap

Key Stats: The Mastodons found more success on the offensive side of the ball in a five-set win over the Hawks, outhitting them .172 to .042 and putting down 52 kills, while allowing just 37. Fort Wayne also boasted a slight 7-6 lead in aces. Both teams put up 10 blocks.

Stat Leaders: Sophomore outside Pelegrin Vargas and redshirt junior outside Colton Stone paced the Mastodons with 17 and 16 kills respectively, while freshman outside Austin Gerwig chipped in 10 putaways. Vargas rounded out a double-double with 11 kills and a team-best three aces, while Stone hit at a team-best .243 clip and served up three aces. Gerwig chipped in seven digs, while redshirt junior outside Tony Price notched a team-high four blocks. Junior setter Michael Keegan registered a 42-assist, 18-dig double-double and three blocks.

Senior middle Shane McAdams and senior outside Anthony Winter downed nine kills apiece to lead the Hawks. McAdams also served up two aces. Sophomore middle Blake Sprecher added seven kills, while hitting at a team-best .278 clip and putting up four blocks. Redshirt senior setter Thane Fanfulik tallied a 31-assist, 14-dig double-double.

It Was Over When: After splitting the first eight points of Set 5, Fort Wayne scored three straight with two Vargas kills and a Price solo stuff. Another Vargas putaway made it 8-6 at the changeover and four Hawk errors pushed the advantage to 12-7. A Stone kill, a solo block by Keegan and Quincy hitting error gave the Mastodons the 15-9 victory and the match.