MATCH STATS
- #12 Concordia-Irvine Def. #4 Loyola-Chicago 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 25-17, 25-23)
- #12 Concordia 9-9; #4 Loyola 15-4
- Irvine, California (CU Arena)
- Box score
IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia Eagles hosted the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Thursday night, and the Eagles pulled out the upset in a tough fought four set match. This snapped the Ramblers’ five match win streak.
The key to victory was a consistency and playing error free. In a match this close, Loyola committing seven more errors was the difference maker in the end-result.
Leading the Concordia offense was redshirt sophomore outside hitter, Raymond Barsemian, with 18 kills on a .222 clip. Hunter Howell also had an impressive offensive performances with eight kills and zero errors, hitting .471. Setter Chandler Gibb ran the offense with 44 assists and went three for four on attacks.
Loyola was led by Collin Mahan (.419) and Ricky Gevis (.158) with 17 and 13 kills, respectively. Paul Narup also had a productive night with a hitting percentage of .385 with six kills and one error on 13 attacks. They were fueled by setter Garrett Zolg, who tabbed 46 assists and 15 digs for a double-double on the match.
Loyola will finish their west coast trip with a match against Pepperdine on Saturday and Concordia will host Fort Wayne.
PRESS RELEASE
Courtesy of Loyola-Chicago Athletics
IRVINE, Calif (March 8, 2018)
In Short
Collin Mahan crushed a team-high 17 kills but it wasn’t enough as No. 6 Loyola University Chicago (15-4) saw its five-match winning streak halted with a 24-26, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25 loss at No. 14 Concordia Irvine (9-9) tonight at CU Arena. The Ramblers out-hit the Eagles, .260 to .206 for the match but couldn’t close out the close sets.
How It Happened
Concordia Irvine strung together a 7-2 run that turned an 11-11 tie into an 18-13 lead in the opening set. The Ramblers roared back however, using a 6-2 run of their own, which included two kills from Mahan, to trim the deficit to 20-19. Loyola found itself in a 24-22 hole before tallying consecutive points on kills from Mahan and Ryan Jamison that evened the score at 24. However, the Eagles responded by recording the next two points to earn a 26-24 victory.
Four unanswered Eagles points allowed Concordia Irvine to break open a 15-11 advantage in set two before the Ramblers rallied once again. This time, it was a 7-4 spurt that got Loyola back into the thick of things, but a Rambler service error , followed by a Jonathan Predney kill, gave CUI some breathing room en route to a 25-23 decision.
The Ramblers broke free in set three thanks to a mini 4-1 surge, highlighted by a pair of blocks from Paul Narup, that turned a slim one-point edge into an 18-14 lead. From there, Loyola never permitted Concordia Irvine to get closer than four points as it rolled to a 25-17 victory after hitting .400 (11-3-20) in the set.
Loyola appeared primed to send the match to a fifth and decisive set when it jumped out to a fast 4-0 lead to start off set four. CUI punched back though and used an 8-4 run to tie the score at 8. The Ramblers would eventually claw their way back from a three-point hole and grabbed a 21-20 lead on Will Tischler‘s kill, but the Eagles wrapped up play by tallying five of the final points to claim a 25-23 victory that ended Loyola’s winning streak at five contests.
A Look At The Numbers
- Mahan finished with 17 kills and Ricky Gevis came close to recording a triple-double, going for 13 kills, eight digs and seven blocks.
- Garrett Zolg doled out 46 assists and dug a match-best 15 balls for the Ramblers, who also received seven kills and nine blocks from Jendryk.
- Concordia Irvine’s Raymond Barsemian led all players with 18 kills on the night.
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