Loyola-Chicago Sweeps Pepperdine on the Road

MATCH STATS

• #4 Loyola-Chicage Def. #6 Pepperdine 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-20)
• #4 Loyola-Chicage 16-4; #6 Pepperdine 10-6
• Malibu, California (Firestone Fieldhouse)
• Box score

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine Waves hosted the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Saturday night, and the Ramblers pulled out the win in a tough fought three set match. Loyola-Chicago has now won six of their last seven games.

The key to victory was defense, with Loyola out-digging Pepperdine 37-21. The Ramblers also had four attackers hit above .300.

Leading the Loyola-Chicago offense was junior outside hitter, Collin Mahan, with 11 kills on a .304 clip. Jeff Jendryk also had an impressive offensive performances with eight kills and zero errors, hitting a perfect 1.000. Setter Garrett Zolg ran the offense with 34 assists and went one for one on attacks.

Pepperdine was led by Alex Harthaller (.435) and Colby Harriman (.100) with 12 and 7 kills, respectively. Michael Wexter also had a productive night with a hitting percentage of .444 with five kills and one error on nine attacks. They were fueled by setter Robert Mullahey, who tabbed 34 assists and two digs on the match.

Loyola will travel to Lewis on March 17 and Pepperdine hosts Concordia-Irvine on March 15.

PRESS RELEASE

Courtesy of Loyola-Chicago Athletics

MALIBU, Calif. (March 10, 2018)

In Short
Ryan Jamison recorded his second career double-double, totaling 10 kills and 11 digs, to lead No. 6 Loyola University Chicago (16-4), which hit .355 on the night, to a 25-21, 26-24, 25-20 victory over seventh-ranked Pepperdine (10-6) tonight at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Ramblers bounced back from a loss at No. 14 Concordia Irvine on Thursday and with the win matched their total from all of 2017 (16).

How It Happened
Loyola came out on fire and wound up hitting .348 in set one to earn a 25-21 decision. Despite the Ramblers’ efficiency on offense in the opener, the set was a nip-and-tuck affair until Loyola gained some separation with a 3-0 spurt that was capped by a Ricky Gevis service ace, to break a tie and give it a 13-10 lead. Pepperdine fought back and closed within a point (22-21), but a pair of Collin Mahan kills, sandwiched around an ace from Garrett Zolg, ended the threat and closed out the Ramblers’ win.

The Ramblers put together four unanswered points in the early going in set two to open up a 9-5 lead, but the Waves wouldn’t go down quietly and rallied to knot the score on four occasions, the last coming at 24-24, on a kill from David Wieczorek. But, back-to-back kills from Mahan and Jamison provided the winning margin as Loyola put a cap on a 26-24 victory to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.

In set three, Loyola built a cushion thanks to a 4-1 run that turned a one-point affair into a 15-11 lead with a Jamison ace providing the final point of that spurt. An Alex Harthaller kill cut the Ramblers’ lead to 21-19, but consecutive Mahan stops ignited a set-closing 4-1 surge that gave the Ramblers their third sweep over a nationally ranked opponent this season.

A Look At The Numbers

• Loyola’s middle blocker tandem of Jeff Jendryk(8) and Paul Narup (6) combined for 14 kills on 16 swings tonight.
• Mahan produced a team-best 11 kills and added seven digs for Loyola.
• Harthaller paced the Pepperdine offense with a match-high 12 kills.

Up Next
The Ramblers are back in action on March 17 when they visit Lewis at 7 p.m.

Courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics

MALIBU, Calif. — A strong back row and big attack effort helped No. 6 Loyola Chicago to a three-set win over No. 7 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team on Saturday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.

The non-conference win with 25-21, 26-24 and 25-20 set scores, was the Ramblers (16-4) first over the Waves (10-6) all-time.

BIG WAVES

• Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW): 12 kills, .435 hitting %, 4 digs, 3 blocks, 20 service receptionts
• Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 34 assists, 2 aces, 2 digs, 1 block
• David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 7 kills, 1 ace, 4 digs
• Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 8 kills, 1 ace, 6 digs
• Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS): 5 kills, .444 hitting%, 1 block
• Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 4 kills, 4 blocks, 1 ace
• Nolan Sharp (El Segundo, Calif./El Segundo HS): 4 digs, 23 service receptions[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhSMQkZ-x8U]
  

  WAVES VS. RAMBLERS

  The Waves out-blocked the Ramblers 5.0-4.0, but a solid defensive back row by LUC with 37 digs to Pepperdine’s 21 hurt the home team’s efforts. The Waves put up 35 kills on a .228 output along with 35 assists and five aces, but the opposition countered with 40 kills on a .355 clip with 38 assists and six aces for the overall win.

  PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET

  Set K-E-TA (Pct)1. 10-6-30 (.133)

  2. 11-5-32 (.188)

  3. 14-3-30 (.367)

  TOTAL: 35-14-92 (.228)

  LOYOLA CHICAGO ATTACK BY SET

  Set K-E-TA (Pct)1. 12-4-23 (.348)

  2. 14-6-27 (.296)

  3. 14-3-26 (.423)

  TOTAL: 40-13-76 (.355)

  NOTABLES

• The win for Loyola Chicago tonight is the first time the Ramblers have beaten the Waves all-time.
• This is the first time this season the Waves have lost twice in one week.
• The Waves have posted two top-five upsets in the past three weeks, with a 3-0 sweep over #2 UCLA and a 3-1 win over #4 UC Irvine.
• David Wieczorek leads the conference in points/set, aces/set and kills/set and is second in hitting percentage.
• Robert Mullahey is second in the conference in assists/set.
  

  PLAY-BY-PLAY

  The action went back and forth in the first set, but after a 10-10 tie the Ramblers pulled away by three-points. Although the Waves would close the gap to 21-19, LUC had the edge and worked for a 25-21 set win for the early advantage.Fueled by the lead and costly errors at the service line for Pepperdine, LUC broke out to a 10-6 lead early in the second set. The Waves countered late in the action to tie the set at 17’s with kills from Michael Wexter and Alex Harthaller, and a big block from Max Chamberlain and Harthaller, but the opposition always stayed one point ahead. After another 20-17 lead for the Ramblers, Pepperdine once again closed the gap at the 22-22 mark. After going point-for-point to a tie at 24-24, Loyola put a pair of kills down for the 26-24 set win and 2-0 match lead.

  In the third and final set, the Waves battled hard, laying down a .367 attack output with 14 kills, but the Ramblers stayed hot with 14 kills of their own on a .423 success rate to pull ahead 19-14 late in the action. Three kills from Harthaller and an ace from David Wieczorek helped the Waves to an 18-20 deficit, but LUC closed the door with a big attack effort en route to the 25-20 set win to complete the sweep.

  NEXT UP

  Next, the Waves return home to host No. 6 Loyola Chicago at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Firestone Fieldhouse. Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @PepperdineWaves. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.