April 26, 2007

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Opposite hitter Ian Anderson registered a match-high 15 kills as the third seed, No. 11 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-21) to second seed, No. 10 IPFW in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament semifinals on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.

"We just came out flat from the beginning," head coach Shane Davis said. "It was an uphill battle from the start because IPFW was playing so well. You have to give them credit because they played with a fire that we couldn't maintain for the entire match."

Loyola (23-7) was led on the attack by Anderson for the 22nd time this season. Anderson recorded double-figures for the 27th match by recording 15 kills on 29 swings for a .241 hitting percentage and added a team-high two blocks and three digs. The Wauwatosa, Wis. native tied for the match high with 16.5 points.

The Ramblers were out-hit .407-.204 by the Mastodons and ended the season 4-5 when hitting between .200 and .300.

Sophomore Joe Guntli supplied seven kills, two digs, two assists and one block and senior Brian Guntli set up Loyola with 34 assists and finished second on the team with five digs.

"The bright spot that I can point to was the play of Anderson and (Zach) Bailey," Davis said. "They played hard and gave us a solid effort throughout the entire match."

Both teams hit at a blistering pace to open the match, with each team needing only 28 attack attempts in the first set. LU hit .393 in the first game but could not slow down IPFW as the Mastodons hit .429. With the game tied at 24, the Mastodons scored three consecutive points, including two service aces by Brock Ulrich to break open the game and allow IPFW to ease to a 30-26 victory.

The second game saw IPFW never surrender the lead, as Loyola tied the match at 12 but unfortunately gave way to a 7-1 run by the Mastodons. The Ramblers were edged in hitting, .414 to .219.

Loyola forced four ties in game three but once again, could not muster enough momentum to take a lead. The last tie the Ramblers managed was at 4-4 after a kill from James Grunst.

LU was out-blocked 13-4 with Anderson as the only player credited with multiple blocks. IPFW's Josh Stewart took match-high honors while Colin Lundeen had five. In the back row, Bailey had a team-high eight digs to lead the Ramblers for the 19th match.

The Mastodons took a 6-2 edge in service aces with Loyola's Brian Guntli and Nick Lamoureux tying for the team-high mark iwth one apiece. IPFW's C.J. Macias and Ulrich tied for the match high with two service aces each. Macias led the way with 14 kills while Jason Yhost registered 13.

The Ramblers are now 13-12 all-time in postseason action and finished 23-7 (8-4 MIVA Shondell/Dunlap) for the second consecutive season, which ties for the third-most wins for a single season in the program's 12-year history. Davis has completed his fourth season as head coach with a 95-25 career record and is 4-4 in MIVA Tournament play.