Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Missouri S&T to Stay Undefeated

Loyola men’s volleyball defeated Missouri University of Science and Technology three sets to none Jan. 24. Second-year outside Daniel Fabikovic led the Ramblers with 10 kills, , while third-year libero JJ Sowa secured 11 digs. Third-year outside Nate Meyer was the top performer for the Miners with seven kills.

The first set began with several errors from both sides. Second-year outside Jake Read tabbed his first block of the night, which was followed by a kill by Nate Meyer. 

The Ramblers captured two kills from third-year middle blocker Brad Bell and Fabikovic, giving them a 4-3 advantage. After consecutive Loyola errors, the lead slipped from Rambler control for a 5-4 Miners advantage.

Redshirt fourth-year outside Parker Van Buren claimed his first kill of the night, which was followed by a block by fourth-year middle blocker Nicodemus Meyer. Both sides traded two kills between Fabikovic and the Miner’s third-year outside Zachary Carff and third year rightside Aaron Sallade to make it 8-7. 

The Ramblers then went on a 5-0 run, including three kills from Read and one by Van Buren, to go up 13-8. Sallade responded with a kill which was followed by a Van Buren kill and ace — the 100th of his collegiate career. 

A Fabikovic kill and Nicodemus Meyer block sent the Ramblers on another 4-0 run. S&T called a timeout which led to a Rambler service error, making it 19-13. 

Nicodemus Meyer picked up a kill for the Ramblers before Sallade responded with another. An ace by Fabikovic and a Read kill put the Ramblers up 23-14. The first set closed with an ace by Loyola’s redshirt first-year outside Tyler Howard. 

S&T started the second set with a Sallade ace, but the Ramblers answered with kills by graduate outside Jackson Reed and Fabikovic. Following errors by both sides, the set was tied at four apiece. 

Nate Meyer tabbed a kill, and Nicodemus Meyer secured a block. Three more Rambler blocks from Fabikovic, Reed and Nicodemus Meyer put them up 10-7. Strong defense by Sowa kept the rallies alive, and a solo block by Nicodemus Meyer prompted S&T to call timeout. 

Sallade scored out of the timeout despite defensive efforts from redshirt first-year Alex Smits Van Oyen. Fabikovic and Bell each gained a kill, but errors dwindled their lead to 15-13.

Sallade tabbed back-to-back kills, which were followed by two service errors by each team. The Ramblers gained two kills in response from Fabikovic and Van Buren, while a block by Nicodemus Meyer gave them a 22-17 lead. 

The set ended 25-18 with a block from Nicodemus Meyer and an overpass kill from Reed.

Each team tallied two kills to begin the third set. Robbins tallied his third kill of the match which, along with a Fabikovic kill, put the Ramblers up 6-5. A Carff kill briefly gave the Miners the lead before a service error tied it at nine. Kills from Bell and Fabikovic balanced out Rambler errors, keeping the score within one. 

Kills by Robbins, Fabikovic and Van Buren put Loyola ahead 17-14. Nate Meyer secured two kills, but the Ramblers stayed steady with kills from Robbins and Bell. 

Kills from Robbins and Howard forced S&T to use their last timeout down 22-20. A Howard kill and a pancake from Sowa to keep the point alive gave the Ramblers match point at 24-21. A Miner error concluded the match with a third set score of 25-21. 

Head coach Shane Davis said there was strong defense, but there are ways the Ramblers can improve going forward. 

“I think our serve receive, to start with, was really good tonight,” Davis said. “We had a lot of options defensively, and we dug the ball a lot. I think we could have done a better job killing the ball in transition and winning some of those longer rallies.” 

Robbins said the team was able to keep momentum high, even when the match was tight.

“I thought we did a good job on the court of keeping the energy up,” Robbins said. “We were running our systems really well and executing the stuff we could in the moment.” 

The Ramblers will take on Pepperdine University Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. in Malibu, Calif. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.