Jaeschke announced on his instagram that he is forgoing his senior year to go play pro for Polish team Resovia. It is a pretty big loss for the team but it is great to see a Loyola athlete go on and play pro.

Sad to see Jaeschke go. He was Loyola's best player, very explosive.

But Loyola has a lot of good players returning, and two incoming freshmen who are Top Ten recruits. think Loyola will still be a legitimate contender for a third straight National Title.

Pretty wild. I never thought leaving college early to go pro in men's volleyball was a thing, but here were are! Good luck to Thomas.

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It's not common. In my short memory, Jaeschke's current National Team teammate Matt Anderson left Penn State after his junior year in 2008. He also was the AVCA Player of the Year (split) and a National Champion his junior year. It just goes to show how high Jaeschke's stock is right now. I was initially disappointed but also felt excited for him. It makes total sense for him. With Rio coming up in a year, this pro experience will help him solidify a roster spot. Additionally, he's accomplished so much as a Rambler that staying would delay his inevitable pro career. If he thought he was going pro anyway, now is the time to do it.

I can guess that Ohio State's eyes opened up a bit after hearing this news. IMO they are likely to be Loyola's contender for the MIVA 2016. I'm sure some of the other squads are looking at this as an opportunity opening up too. It's one thing to replace an highly effective, efficient, calm, and controlled player like Caldwell. Now the staff has to also replace Jaeschke. My main worry is the passing. If these new guys/Novotny can pass as well as Caldwell/Jaeschke, I'll be less worried.

And he now has his own Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jaeschke