CHICAGO – Lewis University's 10th ranked men's volleyball team was swept at 14th ranked Loyola Chicago on Saturday evening at Gentile Arena in Chicago. The Flyers drop to 8-6, 2-4 MIVA while the Ramblers improve to 9-6, 5-1 MIVA.

Lewis led 15-13 at the media timeout midway through the opening set but couldn't weather a 9-2 run from Loyola as the Ramblers rallied to take the opening frame 25-18. LUC hit .520 in the stanza and held the Flyers to a .160 hitting percentage.

Lewis trailed by as many as five in the middle frame but rallied to tie the set at 18 on a kill from Tyler Morgan (Dike, Iowa/New Hartford). The Rambers scored back-to-back points to regain the lead but the Flyers came back to even things at 20 after a kill from Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie). Loyola scored four of the next five points to take a 24-21 lead and get to set point first. The Flyers fought off the first set point but couldn't fight off a second as Henry Payne recorded a kill to give the Ramblers the 25-22 victory.

Lewis trailed by four midway through the final frame but closed to within 16-15 after an error by Payne. Loyola scored five of the next eight points to extend its lead to 21-18 after a kill from Parker Van Buren. That lead grew to four at 24-20 setting up the Ramblers with four match points. The Flyers scored back-to-back points to cut the lead to 24-22 but a kill from Ben Montplaisir gave Loyola a 25-22 victory.

Lewis was held to a .184 attack percentage recording 34 kills against 18 errors in 87 attempts. Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) led the Flyers with nine kills, Gibbs added eight and John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) finished with seven. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 27 assists, Mitchem finished with three blocks and Carlos Jimenez (Miami Beach, Fla./FLVS) had a match-high eight digs.

The Ramblers finished the match hitting .315 with 40 kills against 11 errors in 92 swings and was led by Cole Schlothauer with 12 kills while Payne added 10 kills. Garrett Zolg had 36 assists and three aces. Andrew Lyons finished with four blocks and Payne and Zolg had sig digs each.

Lewis returns to the court on Wednesday (March 2) as it hosts Benedictine at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.