Loyola Rallies from Down 0-2 to Upset No. 4 Ohio State in Five

  0 Wendy Mayer | February 24th, 2018 | College - Men's Indoor, MIVA, News

MATCH STATS

  • #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

After falling behind 2-0 in the match, No. 6 Loyola utilized the home court advantage and rallied to win three straight to take the match from No. 4 Ohio State.

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.

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.

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.

Set 1 featured seven ties, last at 17-all, before Ohio State broke away with a 7-1 run. Szerszen downed three kills and Sanil Thomas served up an ace in the rally, which made it 24-18 Buckeyes. A hitting error and a Jamison putaway kept the Ramblers in the set, but Hervoir nixed any further comeback hopes with a putaway. Szerszen notched seven kills in the stanza.

Ohio State carried the momentum into Set 2, racing out to a 12-6 advantage. Three kills and an ace by Hanes, perfect serves by Thomas and Blake Leeson and three Loyola errors gave the Buckeyes the six-point edge. OSU boosted its lead from five (14-9) to 10 (21-11) with a 7-2 run. Hanes notched two kills and an ace and Szerszen added a putaway and an ace in the Buckeye surge. Loyola responded with four of the next five points, including a Jamison ace and two OSU service errors. In the end, it was two Rambler miscues and a Szerszen kill that clinched the 25-15 win with a final 3-0 run.

Loyola built a five-point advantage early in Set 3 at 10-5 with two kills and an ace by Jendryk and two Mahan putaways. Ohio State narrowed the gap to two at 10-8 after back to back ace by Nick Laffin, but would get no closer. A solo stuff by Jamison put the Ramblers up five at 18-13 and an ace by the senior pushed the lad to six at 21-15.  A service error gave Loyola a set-point try at 24-19 and a Gevis kill kept the match going with a 25-21 Rambler victory.

The Ramblers led by as a many as five in Set 4, but the set was far from a runaway. Trailing 9-4 after a 5-0 Loyola run, Ohio State began to chip away, eventually knotting the score at 11 before surging ahead by four at 17-13. The 13-4 run included three kills each by Hanes and Szerszen kills as well as two Laffin aces. Loyola worked its way back to a tie at 19 including back-to-back aces by Zolg. A Mahan kill and Kyler Kotsakis ace lifted it to 23-22 Ramblers. Hanes tied it up, but a Jendryk putaway and Hanes hitting error gave Loyola the 25-23 win and sent things to a decisive fifth set.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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