These are, without a doubt, the correct two teams to put a capper on MIVA season and determine, between them, a ticket to Los Angeles for the NCAA Final Four. And these two rivals jam-packed the Neil Carey Arena, leading to an electric and loud atmosphere. Got to love it!
The teams traded sideouts early. On 2-1, Loyola had to send over a free ball and the Lewis player who got it made the curious choice of sending it back on 1. The Ramblers set their offence more effectively on the second try, Nick Olson coming up with the kill. A hitting error by Joe Smalzer extended Eric Fitterer‘s run on serve a little later to advantage 5-2 for the Flyers, and a double-block led by Lewis’ All-American setter BJ Boldog made it 6-2 and timeout Loyola. The Ramblers took the first two back from the timeout to get back to within a point, and then a back-row kill on 8-5 to make it back to within two. It was Fitterer leading the way for the Flyers early in set 2, his third kill of the set making it 10-8. A big block for Yiwei Zhou up the middle re-established their 3-point advantage. Lewis made it back to four with an ace for Fitterer, and to five at 15-10 with a lucky shot that trickled over the net and down, leading to Loyola’s final timeout.
Loyola got two out of the timeout, the second a great hit from Smalzer to find the floor. Nick Olson got his fourth kill on four swings up the middle on 16-12, making him Loyola’s force to answer to Fitterer for Lewis. Then, 17-14 was a terrific rally, with the Flyers miraculously saving a ball on a pancake and finding the back edge of the court for a real momentum point. At 18-15, Smalzer’s hit looked to be sailing well long, but Geoff Powell fielded it by mistake, and Loyola drew within two. That prompted Lewis’ first timeout, but it was mostly just sideout after sideout afterward. Lewis reached 20 first at 20-17, but Zhou’s serve flying long kept them from extending. Smalzer rotated to serve at 20-18, but the Flyers kept him from going on a run. Loyola took the first point on serve in a while when Powell was whistled for a net fault on the rally ending 21-20, and Lewis called their second and final timeout.
Powell put away the first point back, keeping the match from coming even. He nearly got one on his own serve on the next rally, but Bobby Walsh got whistled for netting this time. He redeemed himself on the next ball, when Smalzer had an iffy set to work with and hit it straight into Walsh’s block. Jay Petty‘s roll shot made it set point for Lewis a 24-22. The Ramblers saved it, despite probably Lewis’ best server Boldog being on the line. The Flyers converted their set point on reception, Fitterer’s fifth kill the winning point.
Loyola took their first lead of the night at 3-2 by blocking Powell (Peter Hutz and Nick Olson), a pretty rare sight this season. Bobby Walsh was then whistled for a lift to put the Ramblers ahead two. MIVA Freshman of the Year Thomas Jaeschke found the floor past a diving Powell to put the Ramblers up three for the first time at 7-4. Loyola gave away a point a little on 7-5 when they got a free ball and the Rambler libero Peter Jasaitis effectively set the hit on the other side of the net. Whoopsie daisie! A double-contact call on the Ramblers brought the set back even at 7’s. The Ramblers ran it back to 10-7, but just as quickly the Flyers tied it again at 10-all. Both teams serving subs, Jeff Patton for the Ramblers and Patrick Lilly for the Flyers came in about midway through and got the job done, with Lilly the more impressive of the two, coming up with pocket rockets — two aces — to make it 14-13 at Loyola’s timeout.
Lewis took their first two-point lead of the set at 16-14, with a hitting error for Olson that was definitely the fault of the set — it was way too low. A similar point followed with Smalzer’s hit finding the net as well. A kill for Cody Caldwell got the Ramblers the sideout to keep them from falling down four. On 17-15, Loyola’s libero Jasaitis ventured far and wide to keep the ball alive, showing some great speed and reflexes, but as most often happens when a team barely keeps a ball alive, they did not get the point. On Loyola’s serve at 18-17, Lewis’ offence fell apart, with Petty forced to send a free ball, but he barely even got it over. It was like an overpass, and Eric Daliege happily gobbled it up to bring us even again at 18-all. Loyola took two on serve with Hutz before Powell got Lewis a sideout. The Flyers switched liberos late in the set, dressing two but to that point using only Eric Butch in the position. I’m not sure who the second one was, as he played only a few points.
22-21 was a remarkably long rally, the ball crossing the net several times. Loyola wanted a lift called on one of Lewis’ earlier digs, but they wound up putting the ball away anyway to stay ahead two. With Lewis on serve trailing 23-22, they came up with a deceptive softie that totally disrupted Loyola’s offence and led to Lewis getting an easy kill to make it 23-all. Loyola brought their wolf mascot with them (the heck is a Rambler?), and the fella or lady in the suit had a little fun on the timeout, dancing around the court and following Lewis’ mascot around. Loyola got their sideout to get set point first at 24-23. Server of the Year Joe Smalzer came up with an impossible-to-field ace to tie the match at a set apiece.
Set 3 started with a string of sideouts, continuing with a net fault whistled against Boldog when they had a chance to go up two. Lewis coach Dan Friend protested the call, but it was not reversed. Lewis took the first 2-point lead at 7-5 and 3 at 9-6, presaging Loyola’s timeout. It was Petty at the service line, and instead of bombing it on the first serve back from the timeout, he snuck in a softie, with the ball dying in front of the Loyola reception. Lewis extended to 11-6 on the next ball, the biggest lead either team had had all night. Finally, a service error sided the Ramblers out, but it was still a good run for Petty and the Flyers.
At 12-7, Lewis extended their lead, behind their ‘ace’ serving sub Lilly, but the Ramblers protested that Boldog should have been called for a double-hit on his set. No such call came, and Loyola were forced to take their second timeout trailing 14-7. It did nothing to slow the Flyer roll, as Powell lived up to his team’s nickname to slam home the kill and make it 15-7 Flyers. The Ramblers sided out with Jaeschke at 15-8, but the Flyers kept up the pressure, their lead reaching 10 at 18-8 before Loyola could finally side out again. A net fault (lots of them called in this match) made it rather shockingly 20-9 Lewis, and even that wasn’t the extent of their lead, as it reached 22-9 on a Walsh block and 23-9 on a Smalzer hitting error, and set point came at 24-9. Loyola finally sided out on 24-10 to at least reach double digits for the set, but it was long since over. Loyola expended their subs as the set went on, putting mostly reserves on the court, and the reserves looked lost out there. But the starters got a breather in a set that was done and dusted very early on.
The Ramblers brought their starters back in to start set 4. The Flyers took four of the first five, but Loyola hung tough, getting Smalzer to the service line at 5-3 and he came up with a much-needed ace. Fitterer’s kill on the next rally kept the set from coming back even. On 7-5, both sides’ transition offence looked a little lacking, but the Ramblers finally got the point with a left-side kill for Jaeschke to keep a string of sideouts going. At 9-6, the string broke on a long rally ending in favour of Lewis, making it timeout Loyola. The Ramblers made it back within two at 10-8 when Boldog’s set flew a little too close to the net, giving Loyola the chance at a joust, which they won. At 11-9, Loyola’s Hutz effectively used his foot for a set — perfectly legal but highly abnormal — but the point still went for Lewis. At 12-10, Loyola made the sort of mistake you can’t make in a championship match, foot-faulting on service reception, to make it 13-10 Flyers. It looked like they came up with the block to stay ahead three on the rally beginning 13-11, but they were whistled for yet another net fault. The Ramblers found the double block on the next point to tie it at 13-all.
Lewis took two in a row to go up 15-13, but Loyola had the answer to surge back into the lead at 16-15 and up two at 19-17. The Ramblers kept it up, making it 22-18 at Lewis’ last timeout, back-to-back Joe Smalzer kills capping the mini-run. The Ramblers fed the middle with Daliege to make it to within two of forcing a 5th. Lewis got it back to within two at 23-21 to prompt Loyola’s timeout. The timeout may well have iced the server, as he was whistled for foot-faulting to make it set point Loyola. Walsh’s left side kill, on a tight set from Boldog, saved off the first. This rotated Fitterer, Lewis’ hitting start for the match, to the service line, but his attempt flew into the net, meaning it was a race to 15 to book a ticket to LA and the national semifinals.
A service error got the Ramblers their first point in the decider as well, and then 1-0 was a long rally ending with a hitting error on the Lewis side. At 2-0, Loyola might have gotten away with one with a kill from the middle that resembled a basketball hook-shot — which is kind of a textbook lift/carry. At that point, Greg Petty subbed in for Fitterer as the latter suddenly looked a little rickety on his feet. Lewis turned to Lilly as the serving sub at this point, but he would have no run here like did earlier in the match, with Smalzer siding him out. That sent Smalzer himself back to serve, but his one attempt went into the match. This in turn gave Greg Petty his first service attempt of the match, but it too went short. It went on sideout after sideout until 7-4 when the Ramblers took another on serve to go up four at the side change.
Lewis took the first two back from the side change timeout, a service error and a monstrous Jay Petty kill closing them to within two, but Loyola answered with two straight of their own to go back ahead four. It was pretty clear they were feelin’ it. After a Lewis timeout at 10-6, they were whistled for a back-row violation to put Loyola ahead five. At 11-7, Loyola’s hit flew easily long, but it found fingertips at the net, and Lewis burned their final timeout staring down a big deficit 12-7. Patton on the service line at 12-7 lived out the dream by serving out the match, getting a service ace to make it match point before a long-ish rally put the match to bed.
#2 Loyola d. #1 Lewis (23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 25-22, 15-7)
Big-time congratulations to the Loyola Ramblers for their first MIVA championship in school history — and consequently, first trip to the NCAA Final Four in school history. I’ve been happy to see them as many times as I did this year, while always hoping for more. They’re a likeable team and they’ve got nothing to lose in LA. You can say they’re entering as a colossal underdog — they’ll almost certainly be the bottom seed and face BYU. But you know what, we just saw a #32 seed beach volleyball duo win a bronze medal this week. To make a tired point, that’s why they play the games.
Either of these teams would have made a great addition to the NCAA tournament, but it being the first time for Loyola has got to make it just the tiniest bit sweeter for them. Savour it, boys, but don’t be happy just to be there. Nobody’s job is done yet.
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