Box Score

 
CHICAGO—Junior opposite Joseph Smalzer led Loyola-Chicago past visiting NJIT, 3-0, (25-22, 25-21, 25-15) Saturday evening in men's volleyball non-conference action at the Gentile Arena.
 
Loyola-Chicago, which had dropped its previous two contests, improves to 5-5 on the season while the Highlanders, who dropped a 3-0 decision at No. 15 Lewis Friday night, fall to 1-4 on the season.
 
Freshman Trevor Novotny added six kills for the Ramblers while senior middle hitter Eric Daliege hit .800 for the match with four kills, no errors on five swings and added four block assists.
 
Setter Diego Rodriguez posted 21 assists, four digs, three total blocks and two kills while Smalzer dug-up a match-high eight digs followed by junior libero Peter Jasaitis's seven digs.
 
The Ramblers held a 10-4 service ace advantage led by Smalzer with four and Novotny with three and also held a 13-to-4 team blocks advantage led by Daliege who combined for six total blocks (two solo and four assists).
 
The Highlanders were led by Herman Kantushov and Kajetan Borecki for the second night in a row, with each combining for six kills apiece.  Kantushov, the junior right side hitter combined for a .333 hitting percentage on 15 swings with just one error.
 
Senior outside hitter Kevin Van Oss added five kills, on 11 attempts with one error for a .400 hitting percentage for the Highlanders.  Classmate setter Matthew Lui piled up 19 assists and libero Brady Smith posted six digs.  Three different Highlanders notched three digs – Chris Kaepernick, Borecki and Andrei Stoyanow.
 
Loyola-Chicago started off the first set on a quick 4-0 run.  After a timeout by the Highlanders, the visitors rallied back pulling with one, 9-8, after four straight points by the visitors.
 
The set remained close through the mid-teens, seeing three ties, the final at 16, with the Ramblers rallying for a 4-1 spurt pulling ahead by three, 20-17.  The Highlanders did not go away so easily slimming the lead to one, 22-21, after a 4-1 run of their own.
 
After a timeout by Loyola-Chicago, the Ramblers finished out the set on a 3-1 run for a 25-22 final score.
 
In the second frame, the Ramblers jumped out to a 7-4 lead and later extended the lead to 18-13 on a kill by Smalzer.  NJIT battled back pulling within one, 21-20, after scoring four consecutive points, with the Highlanders down, 21-16.
 
The Ramblers finished off the set on a 4-1 spurt for a 25-21 victory.
 
In the final frame, the home led from the start of the set jumping out to an 8-1 lead.  NJIT cut the deficit to five points, 10-5, but the Ramblers would extend its lead to 17-10 and then 24-14 with the final point of the match coming on a kill by Novotny.
 
NJIT, which has faced five Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) opponents to open the 2013 season, will face Kean on Tuesday at 7:30pm.