Men’s Volleyball Snips the Flyers’ Wings in Conference Home Opener

Loyola men’s volleyball swept Lewis University in their first conference game in Gentile Arena Feb. 12. Third-year opposite hitter Aleksandar Sosa led the charge with 16 kills, while graduate outside hitter Josh Schellinger trailed with seven kills. 

The first set opened with a kill by third-year outside hitter Daniel Fabikovic, but was negated by a missed serve from first-year middle blocker Oskar Berg Mikkelsen. Third-year middle blocker Aidan Klein tallied a kill before redshirt second-year setter and opposite hitter Alex Smits Van Oyen hit a serve into the net. 

Klein, Fabikovic and Sosa hit back-to-back kills before Fabikovic recorded a service ace, and Schellinger’s spike landed out of bounds. Sosa and Schellinger hit kills before going into a timeout with an 8-3 lead. 

Lewis landed their first kill from redshirt second-year setter Cameron Hoying before Mikkelsen landed one of his own. Loyola recorded another service error when Sosa’s hit went out of bounds. Schellinger and Hoying traded kills, but a wild serve by Lewis’ fourth-year outside hitter Daniel Haber strengthened the 11-6 Rambler advantage. 

Mikkelson tallied a service error, but it was negated with a kill by Schellinger. Another missed serve from Smits Van Oyen was met with a service ace by Hoying, who then recorded two attack errors when his spikes landed out of bounds. 

Sosa’s own attack error was met with a missed serve from Lewis’ third-year outside hitter Deyan Todorov and an attack error by Hoying. A Fabikovic kill kept a 17-10 Rambler lead going into a second timeout. 

Mikkelsen and Sosa hit the Flyers with back-to-back blocks before service errors from third-year opposite hitter Lukas Anderson and Lewis redshirt second-year middle blocker Frederick Krueger-Beer. 

Schellinger and Hoying swapped kills before Sosa’s spike landed out of bounds. Mikkelsen recorded another kill, but it was met by a point from Lewis redshirt first-year outside and opposite hitter Ezra Boecking, a service ace by Haber and a kill by Todorov. 

A missed serve by Haber was negated by a kill from Lewis redshirt third-year middle blocker Shawn Baggs Jr., and a kill by Sosa. Smits Van Oyen’s missed serve was met with a Sosa kill to earn the Ramblers a 25-18 victory. 

Head coach Shane Davis said service errors were something the team is working on throughout this season. 

“I think the frustrating thing was probably the float serves we missed,” Davis said. “Get rid of those, and now you’re serving really well from a ratio standpoint.”

The second set began with a kill and an out of bounds hit by Fabikovic before Sosa spiked a kill of his own and recorded a block with Klein. Haber and Klein traded kills, but Schellinger tripped over Smits Van Oyen on a diving play and missed his spike. 

Haber and Krueger-Beer tallied kills, followed by a Schellinger attack error. A block by Kruger-Beer, Haber and redshirt third-year outside hitter Cole Sweitzer put Lewis in the lead 7-4 going into Loyola’s first timeout. 

Sosa spiked a kill and recorded a service ace before hitting his next serve out of bounds. Mikkelsen hit a kill before blocking a hit from Hoying. Schellinger’s serve knocked into the net, and Sweitzer’s service error was challenged by the Lewis coaching staff, resulting in a reversed call and a point to the Flyers. 

Sosa tallied two more kills, and Sweitzer hit one of his own before Smits Van Oyen recorded a service ace. A series of kills put the score at an even 13 — two by Klein, one by Haber and one from Krueger-Beer. 

A service ace from Anderson was met with a block by Krueger-Beer and Sweitzer before Sosa and Haber swapped points for their respective teams. Schellinger’s attack error was followed with kills by Sosa and a block by Mikkelsen and Smits Van Oyen. 

A hit out of bounds by Sweitzer put the Ramblers in the lead, and was extended with a Fabikovic kill and a four-hit violation by Lewis. A kill by Flyers’ first-year outside hitter Gauthier Brozak was followed by a service ace by Sweitzer and a Sosa net violation, but the Ramblers maintained their 21-19 lead. 

Sweitzer tallied a service error and an attack error, and Klein and Fabikovic recorded another block assist. First-year outside hitter Ayden DesLauriers’ serve landed in the net, but Brozak’s service error gave the 25-20 victory over to the Ramblers. 

Davis said the errors in the first half of the set were from goofy plans, and the first timeout focused on fixing those. 

“It was just not taking care of the ball on our end, and Lewis did a good job of continuing to keep pressure on us,” Davis said. “It’s just simple ball control, basic skill stuff that we need to execute better.”

The third set started with an attack error by Brozak and a serve into the net from Mikkelsen. Klein and Todorov exchanged kills before Brozak’s spike hit Schellinger in the face and went out of bounds for a point to Lewis. 

Brozak’s next spike went out of bounds before a series of kills — one each from Krueger-Beer, Todorov, Schellinger and Sosa. Sosa redeemed his missed serve with a kill before Sweitzer and Mikkelsen put points on the board for an even seven. 

Brozak’s spike went out of bounds before Klein and Fabikovic blocked a shot. Krueger-Beer tallied a kill, and Smits Van Oyen recorded another block. Sweitzer’s attack error was retaliated by a Kruger-Beer kill. Brozak put up a service error and an attack error, putting the Ramblers in a 13-9 lead. 

Todorov and Sosa traded kills before Mikkelsen and Sosa recorded another block. Klein’s serve went out of bounds before Sosa tallied two kills, and Lewis’ redshirt third-year middle blocker Josh Weyerhaeuser spiked one of his own. 

A series of five kills followed with points from Todorov, Sosa, Hoying, Klein and Kreuger-Beer. Brozak’s service ace was followed by a serve which ducked below the net, and Sosa’s next kill was challenged by the Lewis coaching staff — the call was reversed, and the point went to the Flyers. 

Schellinger’s kill was met with an out of bounds hit by Haber and a DesLauriers service ace. A kill by Schellinger and an attack error by Haber sealed the 25-17 win for the Ramblers. 

Mikkelsen said he was excited to play his first rivalry match, especially at Gentile Arena. 

“The stands were packed, like the energy was there,” Mikkelsen said. “We’ve been missing a lot of energy on the court. I really felt like it was there today.”

The Ramblers continue their home slate Feb. 26 against Northern Kentucky University. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on Marquee Sports Network.