Loyola will host Lewis tonight in the MIVA Conference Semifinals at Gentile. Start time is 7pm and can be viewed locally and nationally.

ATT Uverse: 742/1742 HD
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Out of State: ESPN3 Online Stream

Loyola is 2-0 against Lewis this season but Lewis is no rollover. Expect a dog fight tonight. The winner of this match will either travel to Ohio State or host McKendree this Saturday night for the right to advance to the National Tournament.

Bummer.

Can't help but think losing Shane so close to the start of the season affected the outcome. Back to back titles is nothing to scoff at. Would have been nice to three peat but we'll take what we can get

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Cigarboy sucks!

As the final point ended, I joked to my friend that this was all Jaeschke's fault. Realistically, despite having 5 experienced tournament tested players coming back, the two that did not come back, Caldwell and Jaeschke, were too much to replace. In 2015, it took Loyola until April to figure out the Right Side position trying to replace Smalzer. In 2016, they had to replace their two best offensive weapons. Caldwell and Jaeschke were also two-thirds of the serve receive. As we saw lat night, and most of the year, passing was an issue on serve receive. The bic play on offense, which Loyola relied on heavily during the two championship runs, was non-existent last night and really most of the year. And that only happens with good passing.

So my feeling is that I don't think having Shane around would have made much of a significant on court difference. This team just wasn't running on all cylinders as they did the last two years.

Looking back, Loyola is a 2 time back to back National Champion. Those memories will last.

You're the volleyball guy, so I defer to you.

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Cigarboy sucks!

GoRamblers, you still bring up a good topic. There is something to off the court coaching. Shane was there for 12 years and I'm sure was a great influence and leader for these guys. While the rest of the staff remained, with the addition of a new assistant, I guess the question would be if Shane could have done something different. It's really a question with no answer though.

Sad to see this run end -- especially to Lewis! But it was certainly a great run, and I hope we'll be back in the final four next year.

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