Match Stats
- No. 10 Loyola 3, Fort Wayne 1 (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23)
- Loyola moves to 16-10, 9-6 MIVA; Fort Wayne falls to 5-22, 2-13 MIVA
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Attendance: 470
- Box Score
A balanced and efficient offense attack led the No. 10 Loyola Ramblers to a 3-1 win over Fort Wayne Thursday night, moving the Ramblers into fourth place in the MIVA standings at 9-6. Fort Wayne meanwhile remained in a tie for eighth place in league play (2-13) with the loss.
A three-headed monster of junior opposite Ben Plaisted, junior middle blocker Jeff Jendryk and sophomore outside hitter Collin Mahan led the way for the Ramblers, each reaching double-digit kills and hitting .375 or better on the night. Plaisted tallied his 16 double-digit effort of the season with a team-best 15 kills on a .417 hitting effort. Jendryk chipped in 11 on an errorless (11-0-15) effort for an outstanding .733 percentage to go with a team-best six blocks. Mahan added 11 kills, hit .375 and registered a team-leading five aces and seven digs. Sophomore libero Avery Aylsworth led the defense with eight digs.
Sophomore opposite Alex Dickman led the Mastodons with 12 kills, while hitting at a .333 clip and adding six digs. Freshman middle Richie Diedrick chipped in 10 kills, while hitting .714 (10-0-14). Senior outside Nick Smalter registered nine kills. Sophomore setter Michael Keegan put up a team-best five blocks and added five kills. Redshirt sophomore libero Jack Carlson managed a team-leading eight digs.
Loyola hit at a .429 clip for the match, while Fort Wayne managed a .289 effort.
Fort Wayne took the early 3-1 lead in Set 1 behind two aces by Colton Stone, but Loyola stormed back to tie the score at 7-7 and take a 16-8 lead. Down 7-6, the Ramblers scored seven straight including three Mastodon errors and a kill and ace by Mahan. Fort Wayne called timeout, but could not stop Loyola from scoring five of the next seven points to go up 18-9.A pair of blocks by Plaisted and Jendryk aided the rally. The Mastodons weren’t done yet, though, using a 4-1 run to cut the margin to six at 19-13. Fort Wayne couldn’t complete the comeback, turning in a pair of serve errors to give Loyola the final two points of the 25-18 win. The Ramblers could not miss in the set, hitting .609, committing just one hitting error in 23 swings.
A .526 hitting effort in Set 2 helped Loyola to a 2-0 advantage in the match. Fort Wayne again took the early lead, going up 7-4. An ace by Mahan and a couple of Mastodon errors put the Ramblers on top 9-8. The teams then traded points over the next 10 serves, tying five times, last at 13.A 6-1 run, including two kills by Paul Narup and two aces by Mahan, gave Loyola a 19-14 lead. Fort Wayne would get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Ramblers closed out the set on a 4-0 run, with two blocks and a kill by Jendryk.
After a tie at 7-all in Set 3, Fort Wayne broke off a 7-2 run to go ahead 14-9. A pair of blocks by Graydon Schroeder got the rally started. Loyola chipped away, eventually tying the score at 21-all. Five players chipped in kills during the stretch. Diedrich downed two kills as the Mastodons extended the match with a 4-1 run.
The teams played to a 15-all deadlock in Set 4 as the lead changed hands four times in the early goings. Loyola got four kills, two from Plaisted, to push ahead 19-16. Dickman countered with three kills for Fort Wayne to knot the score at 20. A block and a kill from Jendryk and two Mastodon errors made it 24-22. A Mahan kill ended the match two serves later.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Loyola Athletics
In Short
Three players tallied 10 or more kills, and as a team No. 10 Loyola University Chicago hit .429 (54-12-98), to earn a 25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23 victory at Fort Wayne (5-22, 2-13 MIVA) tonight. With the win, the Ramblers move to 16-10 overall and 9-6 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play heading into Saturday’s crucial matchup at No. 13 Ball State.
How It Happened
that turned a one-point deficit into a commanding 16-8 lead. That set-changing spurt featured two kills and a block from senior Cole Murray and the Ramblers, who hit a blistering .609 (15-1-23), kept the Mastodons at arm’s length the rest of the set, as their lead never was less than six points.
Fort Wayne led by as many as three points in set two, but Loyola used a 5-2 run, capped by a Collin Mahan ace, to tie the score at 8. The Ramblers were clinging to a 15-14 lead midway through the set, but then ripped off four straight points, the final two coming on two more aces from Mahan, to open up a 19-14 advantage. A Nick Smalter kill cut the Loyola lead to 21-17, but Jeff Jendryk had a hand in three of the Ramblers’ final four points, tallying a kill and a pair of blocks, as Loyola collected a 25-17 win.
In set three, Loyola saw an early one-point lead evaporate as the Mastodons registered five consecutive points to claim a 12-8 advantage. The Ramblers refused to go down without a fight and trailing 19-16, Plaisted ripped a kill that ignited a 5-2 Loyola run that evened the set at 21. But Fort Wayne notched four of the final five points to earn a 25-22 victory and force a fourth set.
Two more Plaisted kills were part of a 4-1 run that snapped a 15-15 tie and gave Loyola a 19-16 lead and seemingly control of the fourth set. However, Fort Wayne stormed back and knotted the score at 20 on a Graydon Schroeder/Smalter block before Loyola showed its mettle by grabbing the lead, and control of the set, right back when Jendryk and Murray combined for a block and the ‘Dons recorded a hitting error. Mahan’s 11th kill of the evening finished off Loyola’s 25-22 victory, its eighth straight over the Mastodons in Fort Wayne.
Inside The Box Score
– Plaisted totaled 15 kills to lead Loyola. He has pounded out 10 or more kills in a career-best, 16 straight matches.
– Mahan pitched in 11 kills, seven digs and five aces, while Jendryk added 11 kills and six blocks.
– Paul Narup notched nine kills and combined, he and Jendryk recorded 20 kills, and no errors, on 28 swings.
– Alex Dickmann led Fort Wayne with 12 kills.
Up Next
Loyola closes out the regular season with a huge match at No. 13 Ball State. The No. 4 seed for the MIVA Tournament is on the line when the Ramblers and Cardinals battle in Muncie, Indiana on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Central.
Courtesy: IPFW Athletics
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Fort Wayne men’s volleyball team fell to No. 10 Loyola in four sets (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23) on Thursday (April 6) on Arnie Ball Court.
Colton Stone helped the Mastodons open the match with back-to-back service aces, and Fort Wayne led at the 7-6 mark. Then the Ramblers went on a 7-0 run to open up a six-point lead. Their lead would increase to as many as nine. Gabriel Quinones and Alex Dickmann also had an ace each in the first set. Michael Keegan had three kills on three attempts in the first. Loyola and Fort Wayne traded points in the second set until a 6-1 run from the Ramblers to reach a 19-14 lead. Loyola went on another 5-1 run to finish the set.
The ‘Dons hit .364 in the second set behind Dickmann’s four kills. Graydon Schroeder chipped in three kills in the set for Fort Wayne. The Mastodons trailed 7-5 early in the third set, but they went on a 7-1 run to open up a 12-8 lead. Scott McNerney had a solo block and a block assist, and Schroeder and Keegan had two block assists each in this run. Fort Wayne led 19-16 over the Ramblers, but Loyola tied it up at 21-all. Back-to-back kills from Richie Diedrich and McNerney forced a Rambler timeout at 23-21.
Fort Wayne led the Ramblers in hitting percentage in the third .231 to .194 behind Diedrich’s five kills on six attempts.
The fourth set was close for most of the set, as neither team led by more than two until Loyola opened up a 19-16 lead. The ‘Dons responded with a pair of kills from Dickmann out of a timeout to force a Rambler timeout. Two Mastodon points later, Loyola took another timeout. Fort Wayne brought the score within one, but Loyola took the final point of the night on a kill from Collin Mahan. The ‘Dons finished hitting .370 in the fourth set.
Dickmann led the Mastodons in kills, finishing with 12. Jack Carlson led in digs with eight, and Keegan led with five blocks to tie his career-high. Diedrich hit .714 with 10 kills on 14 attempts. The Mastodons finished with a .289 hitting percentage.
The ‘Dons fall to 5-22, 2-13 MIVA, while Loyola improves to 16-10, 9-6 MIVA. The Mastodons conclude the regular season with a home match against No. 7 Lewis on Saturday (April 8) at 7 p.m. on Arnie Ball Court.
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