Here’s an interesting Wednesday-night matchup out of the MIVA, pitting that conference’s top team (and authors of the nation’s longest winning streak) Lewis against the third-place MIVA team in Loyola. These teams met previously, in Chicago, with Lewis winning in four sets. Tonight’s match is at Lewis, and the Flyers are 6-0 this season at home, with 5 of those wins being straight-set sweeps.
A tip of the metaphorical cap to both sides for their social media interaction with The Net Set, as Loyola’s team account and the personal account for Lewis setter BJ Boldog are both followers. My thanks to both for that. Seemed like a pretty fair crowd on hand for this match, albeit in a gymnasium with not a ton of seating, and that’s always nice to see. The Ramblers went to a different setter than they’ve used the majority of this season. Rather than Diego Rodriguez, it was Peter Hutz tabbed to run the offense in this one. Both are freshmen, so it makes sense to give both good long looks at the position.
Loyola’s leader Joseph Smalzer accounted for the first advantage of the match, getting a kill early in set 1 and a near-ace serve when he rotated back. Lewis’ feeble return was easily killed by Nicholas Olson. Hutz, Olson, and Thomas Jaeschke came up with a triple block of Lewis’ big hitter Jay Petty to seize the early three point lead at 5-2. Another kill for Olson made it 6-2, and the crowd were kinda taken out of the match at the outset. A kill from Smalzer extended the Ramblers to an 8-3 advantage before the Flyers could side out.
8-4 was a great rally from both sides, with the Ramblers playing some scrambling defense to keep balls alive inches off the floor. But, as usually happens in that case, the other side got the point, on a kill off the touch from Bobby Walsh. At 9-6, Boldog made an impressive set to keep a ball from going over the net on an overpass (all the more impressive to do it without being called for a lift). Lewis brought in a serving sub, Patrick Lilly, kind of curiously early in the set at 9-7, but he did his job with an ace serve to draw the Flyers back within a point.
From there, it was sideout after sideout for a while, with the Ramblers either leading by 1 or 2, until a hitting error by Smalzer tied it at 14 to prompt Loyola’s timeout. The Ramblers let Eric Fitterer‘s first serve after the timeout go, but it was ruled in for an ace. 15-all was another great rally, with both sides scrambling this time. It ended a little disappointingly, with Dainis Berzins‘ hit, from center-back, going into the top of the tape to grant Lewis their first lead of the night. At 17-all, Loyola were called for a foot fault on service, and that’s really the sort of mistake you can’t afford to make against a team like Lewis and expect to win. They called their second timeout trailing 19-17.
Again coming out of the timeout, Loyola let the serve go, and again it was called in for an ace, this time for Bobby Walsh. But back-to-back attacking errors from Petty and Fitterer then knotted the set at 20 and force Lewis’ first timeout. Lewis’ service reception coming out of the timeout was picture-perfect, with the back row pass enabling Boldog to go to Yiwei Zhou up the middle for an easy kill. They then subbed out Boldog for secondary setter Tom Logan (yes, Tom Logan…is that too perfect or what?), as a serving sub, though his one attempt didn’t amount to anything. I just wanted to share that name 😛 Loyola regained the lead at 22-21 on a double block by Olson and Smalzer, and after Petty’s service error Lewis called their last timeout trailing 23-22. Jaeschke tried a back-row roll shot (or a free ball?) on the subsequent rally, but it didn’t clear the net. Trevor Novotny‘s left-side kill off the block and out gave Loyola the first chance at set point. The first and last as it happened — Novotny himself rotated to the service line and his serve hit the top of the tape and rolled over to land in front of a back-row pancake attempt, putting the Ramblers up 1-0.
Loyola hit .242 with 15 kills in the first set, to Lewis’ .111 on 10 kills. Loyola came up with 4.5 total team blocks, to just one for Lewis. Novotny’s ace only was the only of the set for the Ramblers to 3 for the Flyers, but it was timely. Smalzer led all hitters with 5 kills.
On the second rally of set 2, the up referee signaled a point for Lewis on a ball hit out by Loyola, when I (and presumably everyone in the gym) could hear the ball hit off the Lewis defender on its way out. After conferencing with the down ref and one flagger (oddly, the flagger furthest from the play rather than nearest), the call was corrected. While not strictly sideout after sideout, it was pretty back-and-forth in terms of scoring early in the second. Lewis took the first 2 point lead at 6-4 on a double block of Jaeschke. At 7-5, Petty’s soft serve got the Ramblers out of system and led to an easy joust win on the right-side (seeming scored as a block for Fitterer, though a joust is usually a kill). That prompted Loyola’s timeout.
This time, the Ramblers didn’t have to worry about service reception coming out of the timeout, as Petty’s ball flew well long. They took the next point on serve and kept things level to 9-8 when Geoff Powell‘s hit went wide to tie the set at 9’s. Back to back kills for Smalzer gave Loyola their first lead of the set at 11-10, and after another for Berzins Lewis called their first timeout of the set. A rare miscue from Boldog coming out of the timeout — the lefty setter’s dump attempt went straight into the net — gave Loyola a 3-point edge. Smalzer’s hit on 14-11 went straight into the block and out to give Loyola 4-pont lead. 15-11 was another long rally, ending with a Fitterer hitting error to put Loyola up 5. Petty matched his teammate with a hitting error on 16-11, and finally Lewis coach Dan Friend had seen enough and took his second timeout, hoping to staunch the 4-0/8-1 run from the Ramblers. Smalzer’s serve went long coming out of the timeout, so I suppose it did the trick.
17-12 was another long rally, one where it appeared at least once that Loyola played a ball that was heading out off Lewis. The Flyers got the point, with a kill from Boldog, and their bench players were pumped to win the rally, jumping up and down and shouting. But Loyola’s run really continued unabated. A Berzins ace brought it to 20-13 in favor of the Ramblers. Out of timeouts, Friend could only resort to substitutions to slow the match down, inserting Greg Petty in favor of Fitterer. An attack error by Powell and another service ace for Berzins brought us to the pretty unthinkable score of 22-13 Loyola. They finished it off 25-16 on a solo block by Eric Daliege.
Loyola’s hitting efficiency improved to .296 through two sets, to zero for Lewis. The Flyers had 16 kills and 16 errors through 2. Lewis started to assert their block a bit more in the 2nd, coming up with three in that set. Smalzer continued to lead all hitters with 10 kills, equaling his first set total of 5.
Lewis came out strong to begin set 3. From an early stalemate, they rattled off three straight on serve, the last two on big front-line rejections of Berzins (something that had been kind of missing in the first two sets) to go up 6-2 at Loyola’s timeout. From there it was sideout after sideout for quite a while until Jaeschke’s kill brought the Ramblers to within 10-8, but that was short lived, as Smalzer’s hitting error made it a 4-point deficit again at 12-8 Lewis. They extended back to 14-9 on a triple block against Berzins, which prompted Loyola to turn to Novotny, star of the late first set, off the bench. Lewis’ run continued to 15-9 on a kill for Petty off his own serve, prompting Loyola’s last timeout.
The run just continued coming out of the timeout, with a triple block against Novotny and them back-to-back service aces doubling the Flyers up on the Ramblers, at 18-9. Finally, a service error ended it, but it was long since damage done, with six straight points and five on Petty’s serve to break open a previously tight match. Credit to Loyola, they played a ball down 22-11 just as tenaciously as they would have if up 22-11, but they still lost the rally to edge the Flyers closer to set point. A right-side triple block against Smalzer brought them there. They converted with a kill from Powell on service reception, ending the set on a flatly ridiculous 13-3 run, to force a 4th by winning 25-12.
Lewis’ block got a little bit clownshoes in that 3rd set, coming up with 8 total. Loyola’s hitting efficiency dipped to .163, though it remained better than Lewis’ mark for the night of .093.
The crowd were definitely much more into it to start set 4 than they had been for the outset of 2 or 3 (though of course, they picked up in intensity as set 3 went on). Loyola didn’t seem deterred by it, and it was sideout volleyball for a stretch to begin the 4th. A Greg Petty hitting error (as he was still in for Fitterer, so maybe that sub in set 2 wasn’t just a momentum thing) gave Loyola the first 2-point lead at 5-3. Lewis again turned to Lilly as a serving sub early in the 4th, at 7-6, and his one attempt went into the net. It’s got to be tough to come in cold once every half hour or so and deliver. A Berzins block put the Ramblers up three at 10-7, but they rather quickly called timeout at 10-9 after kills from Powell and Jay Petty drew the Flyers closer.
Lewis drew it even at 10’s with a triple block rejection of Berzins, before a service error got the Ramblers the sideout. At 11-10, Berzins played a gorgeous shot from the left side, that swooped past a crowded front-line and into a vacated right-back. A dive for a pancake from Lewis libero Eric Butch (listed as an outside, but he was a libero in this match) came up empty-handed. Lewis called their first timeout of the set trailing 13-10, and, wouldn’t you know it, the serve for Smalzer went long. It’s funny how that works like 80 percent of the time. Lewis went to Tom Logan (and yes I almost typed Logan Tom) as a serving sub after the timeout, but he didn’t get much on his one attempt, and the Ramblers sided out.
Loyola went up 15-12 when Jay Petty was called for a lift after being blocked because the ball stayed on his back too long. It’s the correct call, but it’s still kind of a pain in the neck because there’s really nothing he could have done differently. Loyola extended their lead to four at 18-14 with a double block against Zhou, and Lewis called their final timeout. The Flyers got the sideout with a kill from the pipe by Powell, and drew to within 2 with a Zhou/Jay Petty block against Smalzer. Loyola got the sideout to 19-16, inching closer to victory, on a kill for Berzins. They brought in their own serving sub Pete Aronchick at 19-16, but nobody seemed to have any luck as a serving specialist in this match, with Powell getting the Flyers the sideout. A Zhou/Powell block against Smalzer made it just a one-point set at 19-18, in advance of the Ramblers’ last timeout.
Lewis got the serve in on 19-18, leading to a long rally. It ended with yet another block, a right-side stuff by Zhou and Powell against Smalzer again, to knot the set at 19. Loyola at last got the sideout from the pipe from Jaeschke, but they gave whatever momentum they gained right back on Smalzer’s subsequent service error. On 20-all, a Lewis defender went well wide of the court, leaning over the scorer’s table to keep the ball in play. The ball stayed alive, but they were unable to return it. The set was tied again at 21 and 22, and the crowd really got into it at that point. Boldog’s successful dump shot evened it again at 23’s, and then Zhou’s solo block of Daliege gave Lewis set point at 24-23. Smalzer’s kill staved it off, and then Berzins gave Loyola their first shot at match point up 25-24. Jaeschke’s service error ensured the match would continue. Smalzer’s kill at 25-all gave the Ramblers their second match point and then a double block against Greg Petty by Olson and Smalzer sealed what can only be termed a pretty big upset.
Loyola d. #7 Lewis (25-23, 25-16, 12-25, 27-25)
Not often that a team loses a 25-12 set and still wins the match, but such was the case for Loyola this evening. It reflects well on them, that on Lewis’ home court, with the home fans starting to get more and more into it, they just shook it off and kept going in the 4th. And that’s what you gotta do. It’s a little easier said than done, though.
It’s probably Lewis’ worst performance of the season. It’s certainly their worst performance of MIVA season. They did better as the match went on but still finished at 39/27/104 for just a .115 attack efficiency. Loyola out-killed them 49-39, though Lewis certainly ramped up on the blocks as the match went on, finishing with 17.5 (and this is after just 1 in the first set) to 11.5 for Loyola. Lewis had markedly fewer service errors and doubled up on the Ramblers in terms of aces, but really, hitting efficiency is all you need to know. Loyola finished at 49/26/109, which isn’t great or anything, but it’s well better than Lewis’ mark for the night. Another thing to look at is hitting errors against opponent total blocks. It’s 26 against 17.5 for Loyola but 27 against 11.5 for Lewis, suggesting quite a few unforced errors on the part of the Flyers.
Geoff Powell wound up being the leading scorer in the match, with 20 kills on .371 hitting (20/7/35), and also contributed 7 blocks. Joseph Smalzer led the Ramblers with 15. It was an especially rough night for Jay Petty, going 5/9/23 for a -.174 night at the office. For a returning All-American, that’s unconscionable. But there’s plenty of blame to go around for this one.
I certainly feel a little vindicated for having had the Ramblers in my power rankings for a few weeks running now, although of course the talk now is that this is Armageddon for Lewis. Oh my god, they lost to Loyola! How good can they really be? It’s a vicious circle. Lewis’ 13-match winning streak is snapped. Both teams next face St. Francis College — Loyola host them Friday, Lewis on Saturday.
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