Men’s Volleyball Defeats Mastodons in Close Matchup

Loyola men’s volleyball beat Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 April 9. Graduate outside hitter Josh Schellinger led the Ramblers with 13 kills, and redshirt third-year outside hitter Bryce Robbins set a career-high of 12 kills. Mastodon’s third-year opposite hitter Logan Muir followed with 10 kills. 

The first set started with a missed serve by fourth-year setter Ryan McElligott which was negated with a kill by third-year middle blocker Aidan Klein. A kill by Muir was followed by a block on third-year outside hitter Daniel Fabikovic’s hit by Mastodon second-year setter Hunter Hopkins and third-year opposite hitter and middle blocker Brody McAfee. 

Muir’s service error was followed by a McAfee kill before McElligott and fourth-year middle blocker Brad Bell tallied kills and a block. Redshirt second-year outside hitter Tyler Howard and McAfee swapped service errors before Bell got off another kill for a 7-5 Loyola lead. 

Schellinger and Hopkins both missed their serves, and Bell tallied a kill before Mastodon first-year outside hitter Carlo Huisden’s serve went wild. Mastodon second-year outside and opposite hitter Owen Banner recorded a kill before third-year middle blocker Casey Lyons missed a serve. 

Fabikovic’s missed serve was followed by a kill from Klein before third-year opposite hitter Lukas Anderson’s serve landed off-court, and McElligott landed a bad set. Banner served up an ace and an error before Schellinger had a bad set and Huisden tallied a kill. 

A service error by McAfee was negated with a kill by Muir, a block by Lyons, a Hopkins ace and an attack error by Howard, putting the Mastodons in the lead 18-13. 

Howard’s kill was met with an attack error from Muir, and a kill by Lyons and attack error by Fabikovic followed. Klein, Muir, Howard, Schellinger and McAfee recorded kills before Schellinger hit another kill and Muir’s hit went out of bounds, shrinking the 22-20 Mastodon lead. 

A service error by Klein, a kill by Banner and an attack error by Schellinger sealed the 25-20 set victory for the Mastodons. 

The second set started with kills from Klein, Muir and Schellinger before Klein served up an ace. Muir tallied another kill before Schellinger’s hit went wild. Banner and Bell traded kills before Bell solo blocked McAfee’s hit. McAfee’s next hit tallied a kill, which was followed by kills from Howard and Fabikovic, putting the Ramblers in a 7-5 lead. 

McAfee hit another kill before serving an error. Lyons recorded an attack error, which was negated with a kill by Lyons. Hopkins missed his serve before Klein, Fabikovic and Howard blocked Muir’s hit. Muir, Fabikovic and Banner all recorded kills before a service error from Mastodon third-year opposite hitter Kaden Fosdick strengthened the 13-9 Rambler lead. 

Anderson served an ace before Schellinger hit a kill and Muir recorded an attack error. Anderon’s next serve landed awry, but was negated by an attack error from Huisden. Howard’s serve missed and Schellinger’s hit landed out of bounds. 

Banner recorded a service error before Muir shot off a kill, and Huisden’s hit landed off court. First-year outside hitter Ayden DesLauriers missed his serve before Huisden and Muir blocked Fabikovic’s hit, weakening the 19-15 Loyola lead. 

McElligott recorded a kill and a service error, and an attack error from Klein was met with swapped kills by Schellinger and Banner. Klein and Schellinger blocked a hit by Muir before Klein missed his serve.

Schellinger landed a kill before missed serves from Howard, Banner, Schellinger and McAfee secured the 25-21 Loyola victory. 

The third set started with swapped kills between Howard and Muir before Klein caused an attack error and McAfee tallied a kill. Klein shot off a kill and served up an ace before trading service errors with Muir. Another attack error by Muir put the Ramblers in an early 5-4 lead. 

Howard missed his serve and Schellinger recorded an attack error before McElligott and Schellinger hit back-to-back kills. Howard recorded two attack errors before Schellinger hit another kill and Muir’s spike missed the court. A kill and block by Muir were followed by a service error from Hopkins, putting the score at an even 10. 

Huisden, Klein and Banner all tallied kills before Lyons served up an ace. Banner and Robbins swapped kills, which were followed by a block on Schellinger’s hit by McAfee, Muir and Banner. A service ace by Muir put the Mastodons in the lead 16-13. 

Muir’s next missed serve was met with a service ace by Robbins, before McAfee and Schellinger traded kills. McAfee’s next kill was followed by a kill from McElligott and an attack error by Muir, shrinking the 18-17 Mastodon lead. 

DesLauriers missed his serve before Robbins and Lyons traded kills. Banner and Lyons blocked Fabikovic’s hit, which was followed by a service error from Huisden. Fabikovic served up an ace before Lyons, Robbins and Schellinger recorded kills. 

Klein and Muir traded service errors before an attack error by Banner and a kill by Schellinger closed the victory 25-23 for the Ramblers. 

The fourth set started with a kill by Robbins and a block by Muir on Fabikovic’s hit. McAfee and Schellinger traded kills before Klein missed his serve. Bell and McAfee exchanged kills before Robbins recorded an attack error and a kill. A kill by Huisden put the Mastodons in the lead 6-4. 

McAfee missed his serve and Fabikovic spiked a kill before Lyons recorded an attack error and Muir recorded two errors. Huisden and Klein traded kills before Huisden’s next kill was followed by him missing his serve. 

Schellinger’s attack error was met with kills by Robbins and Schellinger and a service ace by Anderson, putting the Ramblers in the lead 14-9. Banner, Robbins and McAfee recorded kills before Robbins shot off another two kills. 

Huisden, Robbins and Fabikovic got off kills before Lyons and McElligott traded attack errors. DesLauriers’s service error was met with kills by Muir and Robbins before McElligott served an ace. McElligott’s following service error was met with a kill by Robbins, and an attack error by Muir sealing the 25-15 set and match victory for the Ramblers. 

The Ramblers finish their regular session April 11 against Ball State University. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m., and the match can be streamed on ESPN+.