Purdue Fort Wayne broke No. 9 Loyola Chicago's 10-match win streak and handed the Ramblers their first MIVA loss of the season, 3-2 (25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12) Saturday at the Gates Center.
Jon Diedrich led the Mastodons with a team-high 19 kills. Sergio Carrillo totaled 40 assists with a team-high 11 digs. Bryce Walker hit .520 with 14 kills and had a career-high nine blocks.
The Mastodons limited Loyola as a team to .216 hitting. MIVA Preseason Player of the Year Parker Van Buren recorded 19 kills for Loyola, but the Mastodons held him to a .167 attack percentage.
Purdue Fort Wayne won the service battle, leading in aces 7-3 while committing two fewer service errors. The Mastodons also blocked Loyola 16 times, the second-most for Purdue Fort Wayne this season. It was the most that any team has blocked the Ramblers this season. The Mastodons also held LUC to its second-worse offensive performance of the year.
The Mastodons improve to 13-9 and 4-4 in the MIVA after their first win over a ranked team this season. Loyola falls to 17-3, but still owns first place in the MIVA with an 8-1 conference record. The Mastodons will play host to 6-10 (1-8) McKendree at the Gates Sports Center at 7 p.m. Thursday.
