March 31, 2007

Box Score

CHICAGO - Four different Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball players hit for double-figures in kills as the 14th-ranked Ramblers hit .371 to defeat the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes, 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-26, 30-15) on Saturday night in Alumni Gym.

Loyola (20-6, 7-4 MIVA Shondell/Dunlap) not only earned its third victory against a nationally-ranked opponent but also reached the 20-win mark for the fourth consecutive season under fourth-year head coach Shane Davis.

"It was a great team win for us in all aspects of the game," Davis said, "We took the game to (Ohio State) rather than reacting to what they were doing. That is what happened in the first match (a 3-0 defeat in Columbus, Ohio on March 23) so we made it a point to control the tempo."

Loyola managed a .371 conversion percentage (63-20-116), the Ramblers are 17-1 when hitting above .300 on the attack this season. Setter Brian Guntli coordinated the Loyola attack with 55 assists and chipped in five digs and three kills.

Middle blocker James Grunst and junior opposite hitter Ian Anderson tied for match-high honors with 14 kills apiece. Grunst needed only 19 attempts and hit a match-high .737 on the attack without a single error (14-0-19). Anderson tied or led the team in kills for the 18th match this season and reached double-figures for the 23rd time. Sophomore outside hitter Joe Guntli had 12 kills along with three digs, two blocks and two service aces.

With the score tied at 26, LU closed game one with a 4-1 run that was fueled by three Buckeye hitting errors and kills by Nick Lamoureux and Joe Guntli. Lamoureux registered a game-high five kills.

Ohio State controlled game two from the start after a 6-1 run gave the Buckeyes a 12-1 lead. Despite out-hitting Ohio State .379 to .355, Loyola could not find its way into the match. Grunst came through with a team-high four kills. "Both Anderson and Nathan Gustus struggled early," Davis said. "But in games three and four, they both came to life and started to really take control of the match."

Loyola responded to the late-match pressure by hitting above .400 to take the final two games in impressive fashion. Game three was tied at 16 until an 8-2 Loyola run put them control. Grunst and Joe Guntli tied for the game-three high with five kills apiece. Already up 13-9 in game four, the Ramblers scored six consecutive points to take a 19-9 advantage. Anderson took game-high honor with five kills, followed by four from Gustus.

The Ramblers had a slight edge over the Buckeyes in blocks, 11.5-11. Gustus had a career-high seven blocks to lead up front and Lamoureux was not far behind with six. Lamoureux also had 11 blocks and a team-high 11 service aces. In the back row, libero Zach Bailey earned his 18th double-figure dig performance of the season with a match-high 11.

Ohio State (18-2, 7-1 MIVA Shondell/Dunlap) had three different players with 11 kills apiece: John Albertson, Brett Versen and Robert Klein. Daniel Mathews had 36 assists while Albertson added a team-high six blocks. Sam Stevens had a team-high six digs.

Loyola closes out regular-season play in the MIVA Shondell/Dunlap division against Ball State at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Alumni Gym.