CHICAGO (April 2, 2021)
 
In Short
No. 5 Lewis (17-2, 12-2 MIVA) outlasted host Loyola University Chicago (13-5, 9-5 MIVA), 22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 18-25, 15-8, Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams at the Alfie Norville Practice Facility. The tenth-ranked Ramblers dropped their second straight match despite getting 22 kills from Luke Denton and 20 more from Cole Schlothauer.
 
How It Happened
The battle of the top two teams in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association lived up to its billing as the Ramblers held off a late Lewis surge to a capture a 25-22 decision in the opening set. Loyola led by as many as six points (16-10), but Lewis narrowed the gap to a single point three times, the final one coming at 23-22 on a Ryan Coenen kill. However, a kill by Schlothauer and an ensuing Flyers attack error polished off Loyola's three-point win.
 
Lewis evened things up with a 25-23 victory in set two and got back-to-back Kevin Kauling kills to break a 21-21 all tie and seize the lead for good.
 
Loyola possessed a 15-9 lead in set three that eventually stood at 24-20 following a Ben Montplaisir block. Unfortunately, the Ramblers couldn't finish off the Flyers and watched as Lewis reeled off the final six points of the set to take a 26-24 victory, with Coenen smashing four kills during that game-changing run.
 
The Ramblers showed their resolve by picking themselves off the mat to secure a 25-18 victory in set four to force a fifth set. Three kills and an ace from Denton and three more kills courtesy of Schlothauer were a critical part of a 10-4 spurt to open the set that gave the Ramblers control right off the bat and they would lead from wire-to-wire, while hitting a robust .395 (19-2-43).
 
Lewis put away the fifth set when it pieced together an 8-1 run that turned a 2-2 tie into a commanding 10-3 lead from which the Ramblers would never recover. 
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Both Denton and Schlothauer recorded double-doubles, with Denton racking up 22 kills and 10 digs, while Schlothauer delivered 20 kills and 10 digs.
• Devin Josyln, who was recognized in a pregame Senior Night ceremony, cracked season-high 11 kills and added eight digs off the bench.
• Setter Garrett Zolg also collected a double-double, accumulating 55 assists and 17 digs.
• Coenen led Lewis with a match-high 25 kills, while also digging 15 balls.

 
Up Next
Loyola opens MIVA Tournament play April 10 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The Ramblers will be either the No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 seed for the tournament and will host a quarterfinal match on April 10.