Loyola to defend NCAA volleyball title against Lewis
STANFORD, Calif. - Eric Fitterer scored 18 ½ points, Greg Petty added 17 and Lewis University beat Penn State 25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 25-20 on Thursday night in the NCAA volleyball tournament.
The win sets up a rematch with the defending champion Loyola Ramblers for the NCAA title on Saturday.
Player of the year Thomas Jaeschke, a junior from Wheaton, and Ricky Gevis each had nine kills in the Ramblers' 25-22, 25-19, 25-17 victory over UC Irvine.
The top-seeded Flyers (27-3) lost to Loyola in the MIVA tournament last Friday.
Fitterer had 12 kills, three aces and six blocks, including one solo block. Petty had 15 kills and four blocks. Bobby Walsh added 11 blocks and seven kills and Geoff Powell had nine kills.
Aaron Russell had 15 kills to lead Penn State (22-10). Chris Nugent added 12 kills and Nick Goodell 11.
Loyola had a .312 hitting percentage, under its average, but held the second-seeded Anteaters (28-5) to a .140 attack percentage.
Tamir Herschko led the Anteaters with 12 kills, and Zack La Cavera added 10.
For Loyola and Lewis, Saturday night's title match (8:30 p.m. CT) will be their fourth meeting of the year.
The Ramblers beat the Flyers 6-25, 25-15, 29-27, 25-20 last Saturday to win the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championship. Lewis, however, defeated Loyola twice in regular-season matches on March 9 at Loyola and April 1 at Lewis.