Coming off a three game win streak, the Loyola varsity volleyball team started off league play against Harvard-Westlake on their home court. The Wolverines entered the game with a 13-7 record, while the Cubs entered with a 12-2 record.

Starting Six

6’4” Senior Will Campbell

6’4” Senior Luke Turner

5’10” Senior Nico Posivak

6’5” Junior Cameron Lynch

6’2” Junior Aidan Peters

6’3” Freshman Dillon Klein

Set 1

The Cubs had the first serve and were able to score twice off two aces by Senior Will Campbell. This was followed by a serve error on both teams to make the score 3-1 Loyola. The Wolverines were able to score twice more after a kill and a Loyola attack error to tie the game up. After the two teams exchanged kills, Loyola was able to score four unanswered points, which included a great block Junior Tristan Mortimer. A serve error by Loyola put them in receive, and the away team got a point of their own. After a few back and forth plays, Loyola took advantage of a serve error by Harvard-Westlake. Then, Loyola got a block to extend their lead 12-8. The Wolverines bounced back and scored three straight points off of two kills and an ace. After this, Loyola Junior Cameron Lynch decided enough was enough and got a kill to start a Loyola scoring streak. Senior Luke Turner served for seven consecutive plays and got Loyola’s lead up 19-12. Several more attack errors on the opposing team grew Loyola’s lead and the set was finished off with a bounce by Freshman Dillon Klein and a kill by Mortimer.

Score 25-12

Set 2

The Cubs started off the second set with Junior Chandler Jester, Junior Finnbar McOsker, Senior Will Campbell, Senior Liam Watson, and Junior Aidan Peters. The Wolverines served first and benefited from a Loyola attack error. On the next play, Loyola was able to score when the Wolverines had a block error. However, a serve error on Loyola put the opposing team back on top. Aidan Peters responded with a bounce to tie up the set. Peters served on the next play and got an ace to put the Cubs in the lead. The Cubs followed with another kill and an aggressive block by Senior Liam Watson. A serve error on Loyola gave Harvard-Westlake possession and they scored off an attack error by Loyola. The Wolverines took advantage of some mistakes by Loyola and were able to retake the lead with an unreturnable kill. The Cubs decided to turn it on and Senior Xander Hurley got a bounce to tie the game again. An attack error gave the Cubs the lead and Junior Joe Radanovich got an ace to make the score 9-7 Loyola. A block by the Wolverines made it a one score game but Senior Will Campbell started to show off some of his excellence with a pair of blocks and a kill. Loyola then grew their lead to seven with Chandler serving before Harvard-Westlake responded with a kill of their own. Aidan Peters got a bounce on the next play, but Loyola gave up a pair off attack errors to decrease their lead to 16-11. Will Campbell followed up with a kill to the far left side of the court and Jacob Cudiamat got an ace. Four straight errors on the Cubs gave the Wolverines some momentum before Liam Watson got a bounce. The two teams exchanged points and then Harvard-Westlake stepped up their game. They got several kills, a block, and an ace and suddenly the Loyola lead was down to 21-20. However, Harvard-Westlake gave up their run with a serve error. On the next play, the Cubs got an offspeed kill to make the score 23-20. A serve error on Loyola put them in receive, but this did not stop Aidan Peters from getting a kill to make it game point. The Wolverines tried to fight back with a kill of their own, but Peters finished the set off with another kill.

Score 25-22

Set 3

Loyola entered the third set with Junior Joe Schumacher, Junior Finnbar McOsker, Junior Joe Radanovich, Junior Chandler Jester, Senior Liam Watson, and Senior Xander Hurley. Loyola served first with Joe Radanovich and scored off a setting error on the opposing team. Then a hitting error put Loyola up two. The Wolverines responded with two points of their own before Joe Schumacher got a kill of his own. A kill by Harvard-Westlake tied it up at three and then Chandler Jester got a kill towards the left corner of the court. On the next play, Jester striked again with a kill down the middle of the court to put the Cubs up two. The Wolverines fought back and scored three consecutive points before Jester caught them off-guard with an off-speed kill. Both teams exchanged missed serves and then Xander Hurley got a great deep corner hit for a kill. Several plays later, Hurley got an ace in the left corner to put Loyola up 11-8. The Cubs began to grow their lead with a Cameron Lynch kill and another Hurley off-speed kill. An off-speed kill by Chandler Jester and an ace down center court by Lynch made the score 17-8 Loyola. Another kill down center court by Liam Watson and an attack error by Harvard-Westlake grew the lead even more. Joe Radanovich had two straight aces and the Cubs now had a very comfortable lead, 22-9. Two errors on the Cubs gave the Wolverines the ball, but this was not enough to make a comeback. Two straight kills by Schumacher and Jester made it game point and Hurley ended the game with an ace.

Score 25-11

Cubs win in 3!