April 24, 2008

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball (17-14) team saw its season come to a close on Thursday night at St. John Arena, as the visiting Ramblers dropped a 3-0 (22-30, 26-30, 27-30) decision to top-seeded Ohio State (19-7). The Buckeyes will face No. 2 seed Ball State on Saturday in the MIVA Championship game.

After trading points early on in game one, Ohio State took advantage of a pair of Rambler miscues to take a two-point lead (8-6). The Buckeyes went on a 5-2 run, pushing their lead to five (13-8). The hosts hit .407 in game one, holding onto a five-point advantage for much of the game. OSU extended its lead, 27-19, on a Ted Schoenfeldt kill. The Ramblers battled but could not overcome the deficit as they dropped game one, 30-22.

In game two, the Buckeyes took a quick 7-3 lead on a Loyola attack error, but the Ramblers refused to quit as they battled back and tied the game at 13-all on a kill by Kris Berzins. The conference foes matched each other point-for-point until they were deadlocked at 18-apiece. Robbie Klein knocked down back-to-back kills to give OSU a two-point lead. The Buckeyes would never look back as they held on and eventually took game two, 30-26.

Game three was a hard-fought contest as the two teams traded points nine times. Down by one (13-14), the Ramblers tied the game at 14-14 on an Ian Anderson kill. The Buckeyes refused to go quietly as they took a three-point lead (19-16) on a kill by Brett Versen. The hosts would lead by as many as five points (25-20), but the relentless Ramblers continued to chip away as they pulled within two (29-27), before falling 30-27.

Anderson led Loyola with a match-high 18 kills and eight digs, while Berzins contributed seven kills and nine digs.

Klein registered 13 kills and seven digs for the Buckeyes and setter Daniel Mathews notched 31 assists and 10 digs.