STANFORD, Calif. --- UC Irvine's quest for a fifth national title ended Thursday night with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17) loss to Loyola University Chicago in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Maples Pavilion on the campus of Stanford University.
The Anteaters snap a streak of eight consecutive NCAA wins and end the season with a 28-5 record.
Third-seeded Loyola hit .312, while the second-seeded Anteaters hit a season-low .140 for the match. The Ramblers controlled the net, out-blocking UCI 10.5-4.0.
All-Americans Tamir Hershko and Zack La Cavera registered 12 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Anteaters. Hershko and Michael Brinkley, another UCI All-American, had eight digs apiece. Sophomore setter Michael Saeta recorded 20 set assists and an ace.
Thomas Jaeschke and Ricky Gevis recorded nine kills each for the Ramblers, who improved to 27-2 overall. Cody Caldwell added seven kills for Loyola while Nicholas Olson had seven blocks and Jaeschke seven digs.
In the first set, UCI started with a 3-0 lead then had a block by Jason Agopian and Tamir Hershko plus a Michael Saeta ace and a Rambler attack error to open a 9-5 lead. Loyola would take its first lead at 15-14 and would build a 17-15 lead on a UCI error. A kill by La Cavera and a Rambler error would knot the match at 17-17, but Loyola would score the next three for a 20-17 lead and would go on to win the set, 25-22.
Blocking was the key to the second set as the Ramblers rejected 7.5 blocks. Back-to-back blocks gave Loyola a 7-5 advantage and another block opened a 19-15 advantage. Loyola won the set 25-19, hitting just .174 (9-5-23), while UCI hit .031 (11-10-32).
Loyola controlled the final set, jumping out to 7-4 lead. Consecutive attack errors by the Anteaters pushed the Loyola lead to 10-6 then a 6-2 run by the Ramblers would follow to extend their margin to 16-8. Loyola would win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
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