April 12, 2007

CHICAGO - The No. 11 Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team concludes its regular season at 7 p.m. on Saturday against the No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions in Alumni Gym. Four seniors, libero Zach Bailey, middle blocker James Grunst, setter Brian Guntli and outside hitter Nathan Gustus will be honored in a pre-match Senior Night Ceremony.

Loyola (21-6, 8-4 MIVA Shondell/Dunlap) locked up third place in the conference with a 3-1 (28-30, 31-29, 30-23, 30-19) win over Ball State on Thursday. The Ramblers had a .258 to .157 advantage on the attack while three players hit for double-figure kills.

Junior opposite hitter Ian Anderson totaled 18 kills for a .316 hitting percentage (18-6-38) to lead the Ramblers on the attack. Anderson also tied for the team-high mark with five blocks and added four digs while the reigning AVCA and MIVA Player of the Week, Grunst registered 11 kills on 20 attempts with only one error (11-1-20) for a match-high .500 hitting percentage. Krisjanis Berzins registered his 12th double-figure kill performance of the season with 10 kills and a .316 clip on the attack (10-4-19).

The series between the schools is tied 4-4 with Loyola winning the last match, 3-0, on Jan. 16, 2004 in Alumni Gym. The Ramblers are 36-10 all-time against EIVA teams, defeating New Jersey Tech 3-1 on March 3 in Romeoville, Ill. and Rutgers-Newark on March 30 in Chicago.

Loyola is 4-5 against nationally ranked opponents in 2007 while Penn State enters with a 19-6 record and clinched the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association title with a 12-0 mark.

Penn State has won seven of its last eight matches and are led by freshman middle hitter Max Lipsitz who was named the EIVA Player of the Week on Tuesday for the second time in three weeks after committing six errors and hitting over .500 in three matches. Setter Luke Murray averages 12.50 assists per game while Max Holt leads the way up front with 1.21 blocks per game.