ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fourth ranked men's volleyball is set to host 10th ranked Loyola Chicago in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship match on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena. The winner of Saturday's contest will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, May 3-8, at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Fans will be permitted at Saturday's match but will be limited to guests of rostered players only.
Saturday's match marks the fifth time since 2013 that the local rivals have met for the MIVA title with the Ramblers having won three of the previous four matches. However, the Flyers won the last matchup between the two schools in 2019 winning in straight sets behind 10 kills apiece from Julian Moses and
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin).
All-time, Lewis is 5-4 in MIVA Tournament championship matches, with two of those wins coming against Loyola in 1998 and 2019. The Flyers are 2-2 in Romeville versus the Ramblers in MIVA championship contests.
A victory over Loyola would give Lewis its second straight NCAA Tournament berth and eighth overall.
Saturday's contest marks the 65th meeting all-time between the two schools in a series that goes back to 1996. Lewis has won nine of the last 11 meetings with the Ramblers and have won six straight. Prior to that, Loyola had claimed nine of the previous 11 matchups between the teams. This will be the sixth meeting overall between the two teams in the MIVA Tournament finals, and fifth since 2013, and the Flyers are 3-3 against the Ramblers in championship contests.
Lewis won both matches against Loyola earlier this month defeating them 3-0 on April 1 and 3-2 on April 2 at Loyola.
Scouting Loyola – The Ramblers enter Saturday's contest having won seven of their last nine matches overall. Loyola opened the MIVA Tournament with a four-set win over seventh seeded Lindenwood on April 10 and then reverse swept third seeded McKendree in the semifinals last Saturday evening to advance to the MIVA Championship. In two matches against Lewis this season Cole Schlothauer averaged 4.25 kills and 1.88 digs per set, while hitting .288 (34-11-80). Luke Denton had 22 kills against the Flyers in the April 2 match.
