ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (6-6) embarks on its most difficult road trip of the season at No. 7 Lewis (11-5) and No. 6 Loyola (13-3) Friday and Saturday. Lewis checks in as the top-ranked NCAA Division II team but fell in straight sets at conference foe Loyola Wednesday night. Loyola won that match by set scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-10. Both teams topped two-time defending national champion and No. 9 (previously No. 4) Ohio State last week—Lewis 3-0 and Loyola 3-2.
 
Schedule / Game Day Links:
 
Friday, March 2 at Lewis (8 p.m.) – Live Stats / Video
Saturday, March 3 at Loyola (8 p.m.) – Live Stats / Video
 
Quick Hits:
 
- The Railsplitters never trailed in two of the three sets as the team cruised to a straight-set win over Queens Saturday at Mary Mars Gymnasium (25-12, 25-13, 25-13). LMU totaled its most kills in a three-set match this season with 37 and hit .468. Meanwhile, Queens racked up 20 kills and 22 attack errors for a -.030 hitting percentage. The Railsplitters also led in service aces (8-0), blocks (9-1) and digs (24-16).
 
- Joshua Riblett led the way with 10 kills and a season-high .833 attack percentage. Pedro Carvalho, Evan Cory and Jordan Walley contributed six kills apiece while Marcus Molina added five and hit a perfect 1.000. Carvalho tied a program record with four service aces and took part in eight of the team's nine blocks with one solo. AJ Risavy tied his own record for assists in a three-set match with 34.
 
- Carvalho's performance garnered Off the Block Independent Teams Player of the Week, it was announced Monday. The São Paulo, Brazil native led all players with eight blocks and four service aces in the Queens match and added six kills and zero attack errors while hitting .750.
 
- Carvalho leads the nation in blocks per set (1.410) and solo blocks (15). LMU checks in at sixth nationally with 2.53 blocks per set.
 
- Opponents are hitting just .198 against the Railsplitters, which is the fourth-lowest total nationally.
 
- Evan Cory has recorded a double-digit kill total in seven of 12 matches and leads the team with 123 kills, 3.15 kills per set (30^th nationally) and 13 service aces. The sophomore from Metairie, Louisiana has led or been tied for the team lead in kills in 10 of 12 matches. His .317 hitting percentage also ranks 30^th nationally.
 
- Risavy is the only other Railsplitter besides Cory and Carvalho to start all 12 matches and appear in all 39 of the team's sets played. The freshman setter has dished out 331 assists and averages 8.49 per set (27^th nationally).
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 6-1 on the season at Mary Mars Gymnasium and 14-6 all-time. Only one home match has extended beyond three sets this season. The Railsplitters are 0-5 playing away from Harrogate on the year and 2-17 in the program's brief history.
 
- Ten of LMU's 12 matches on the season have only lasted three sets. The only ones that didn't were a five-set loss at Quincy on February 2 and a four-set home win over Coker one week later. Lincoln Memorial held a 2-0 lead in both matches.
 
- The team has improved its attack percentage from .201 in its inaugural year to .233. Kills per set have remained constant 10.2. Digs per set are also down from 8.8 to 7.6. Blocks per set have increased from 2.0 to 2.53.
 
Notes on Lewis:
 
- The Flyers are 11-2 since opening the season 0-3 to three teams currently ranked in the top five (No. 4 UC Irvine, No. 5 BYU and No. 1 Long Beach State). The team's other two losses are to No. 11 Ball State and No. 6 Loyola. Lewis' notable wins on the season are No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, No. 12 CSUN, No. 9 Ohio State, George Mason (RV), Fort Wayne (RV) and USC.
 
- Lewis is 10-1 at home with the lone loss to No. 1 Long Beach State.
 
- The Flyers rank third nationally in blocks per set at 2.63. Tyler Mitchem, a 6-10 freshman, leads the team with 57 total blocks and 1.21 per set.
 
- Lewis is ninth nationally with a .310 attack percentage.
 
- Ryan Coenen is the team leader with 168 kills and 3.5 per set (18^th nationally). Two other players average over two kills per set—Mitch Perinar (2.24) and Mitchem (2.02). Mitchem is also second nationally with a .476 attack percentage.
 
- Coenen racked up 10 of Lewis' 20 kills in the team's loss at Loyola on Wednesday. Mitchem added five.
 
- Lewis' 20 kills Wednesday were a season low. The team's .151 attack percentage and five total blocks were its second-lowest total of the year. Loyola's 49 kills and .449 attack percentage were the highest totals against Lewis this season.
 
Notes on Loyola Chicago:
 
- The Ramblers are 11-1 at home with the lone loss also to No. 1 Long Beach State. Loyola's other two losses are to No. 4 UC Irvine and No. 11 Ball State. The team's notable wins are over No. 5 BYU, No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, No. 12 CSUN, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 7 Lewis, George Mason (RV), Fort Wayne (RV) and USC.
 
- Loyola is scheduled to play King at home Friday night.
 
- Wednesday's victory over Lewis put Loyola atop the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) standings at 6-1 in league play. The lone loss was to Ball State.
 
- The Ramblers hit .449 for the match and racked up 49 kills with only nine errors. The team particularly dominated offensively in the first set with 21 kills and a .581 attack percentage. Loyola added 17 kills in the second set and 11 more in the third.
 
- Ricky Gevis recorded a season-high tying 16 kills in the win. Collin Mahan added 11 and Ryan Jamison eight.
 
- Loyola checks in at eighth nationally with 12.60 kills per set and sixth with a .315 attack percentage.
 
- Mahan leads the team with 213 kills and 3.44 per set and is the only Rambler to have appeared in every set this season. Jeff Jendryk is next with 128 kills and 2.17 per set and is also hitting .464. Gevis has 113 kills and averages 2.4 per set.
 
- Jendryk, a 6-10 junior middle blocker, is a member of the U.S. Men's National Team. He made his debut during the 2017 FIVB World League.