Friday, February 24, 2017 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.

It's almost always a knock-down, drag-out when Loyola faces Lewis, and even more so when the two teams are ranked in the top 10. Loyola has been playing well lately despite a few players missing due to injury and illness, having just dispatched IPFW and Ball State 3-1 and 3-0 respectively over the previous weekend. Colin Mahan and Jeff Jendryk were awarded the MIVA offensive and defensive player of the week nods as a result. Lewis, at 11-3 on the season and coming off a pair of 3-1 victories over Ball State and IPFW, rose up in the rankings from #7 to #5 on Monday.

Loyola (5-1) holds a lead over Lewis (6-2) in the MIVA standings, as Lewis split their two games at Grand Canyon, while Loyola has two at home over the Antelopes later in the season. Both Loyola and Lewis have already lost at Ohio State, Loyola in a sweep, and Lewis by a 3-1 score. The Ramblers will visit Lewis March 28, so banking a win Friday night over the Flyers will help set up the Ramblers with a tiebreaker for MIVA conference tournament seeding if needed.

The Loyola-Lewis game is also televised locally on CSN Plus.

Wishing the best of luck and success to our Ramblers tonight....a mighty test indeed!! Onward to victory men! We are not men, we are RAMBLERS!

Tough loss, 3-2. That's going to turn the playing field uphill for the rest of the season.

At this point the focus will be just what is in front of them. One match at a time (and other cliches). The key will be to peak in April to make a run at Lewis and Ohio State. We're only a half way thru the season so there are a lot of opportunities to get better.