No. 8/9 Loyola went from one of its best offensive performances of the season to being completely shut down.
No. 19 Purdue Fort Wayne limited Loyola to a season-low .135 attack percentage to upset the Ramblers 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 on Saturday in Chicago.
Loyola entered the week in the nation’s top 10 with a .328 attack percentage. In addition, the team hit .456 in a sweep against No. 9/8 Ball State on Thursday to move into a tie for first place in the MIVA.
Purdue Fort Wayne finished the match with 15 blocks – 8.5 more blocks than Loyola.
Pin-hitter Owen Banner led all players with a season-high eight blocks, including having six blocks in the third game.
Middle attackers Kaden Fosdick and Brody McAfee each contributed five blocks against the Ramblers. McAfee also had two solo blocks in the final game as the Mastodons held the Ramblers’ to a match-low negative-.040 attack percentage in the 10-point victory.
Setter Hunter Hopkins guided the Mastodons offense to a .250 attack percentage highlighted with a team-best .300 attack percentage in the fourth game.
Pin-hitters Carlo Huisden and Logan Muir each had a team-high 10 kills. Banner added eight kills and had the match-winning kill to cap off a 14-4 run to end the match.
Loyola in the loss committed both a season-high 26 attack errors and 23 service errors.
This is the first victory for the Mastodons against a top-10 nationally ranked team this season. The win also ends a three-match conference losing streak and moves Purdue Fort Wayne into sixth place in the MIVA.