LEADING OFF
Loyola Chicago travels to Rhode Island for its first road Atlantic 10 contests on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 4. The Ramblers are on a two-match sweep streak heading into the weekend.
QUICK HITS
- The Ramblers are coming off a sweep against Saint Louis (Sept. 29) and downed VCU in straight sets in the match prior (Sept. 26).
- Junior middle and A10 Defensive Player of the Week Chloe Morgan led Loyola with six blocks against SLU and contributed a career-high seven kills on .455 hitting.
- Sophomore outside Leyna Nguyen paced the offense with 10 kills while setter Mya Ball dished out 22 assists and had the match-high four aces.
- Multiple Ramblers rank in the A10's statistical leaders: Avary DeBlieck second in blocks/set (1.15) and Mallory Bohl is 6th (1.03), Ball second in assists/set (9.00), Nguyen fourth in kills/set (3.64) and in points/set (4.05) and junior libero Sam Falk seventh in digs/set (3.21).
- Loyola returned nine letterwinners and added seven new faces in 2026, including three freshmen (Tenley Davis, Camryn Hughes, Anna Jirmasek) and four transfers (Ball, Bohl, Morgan Jones, Katie Scherer).
- Amanada Berkley entered her ninth season at the helm of the program, holding a 158-101 (.610) record.
SCOUTING REPORT
Rhode Island is 5-9 overall and 0-2 in A10 play so far in 2026. The Rams, who opened league play at George Mason last weekend, are hunting for their first conference win and first victory at home. Rookie outside hitter Cara Richter paces Rhody's offense with 2.47 kills/set and leads the team in service aces (17 total). Her freshman counterpart Carly Thomas facilitates the attack behind 5.02 assists/set. Leading the A10 in digs/set is junior Dakota Henry, averaging 4.46, while senior middle Chloe Abuto anchors the Rams' net presence with 1.06 blocks/set, good for third in the league. The Rams were picked to finish ninth in the A10 Preseason Poll after a 2-16 conference record in 2025.
SERIES HISTORY
Loyola leads the all-time series with Rhode Island 8-1, winning the last eight straight matches -- six of which were sweeps. DeBlieck totaled 13 blocks in the two-match series last year in Gentile Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Stream Sunday's match on ESPN+. Follow @RamblersWVB on Instagram and X for in-game updates.
