May 08--Is Chicago the volleyball capital of the country?
It will certainly look that way Saturday night at Stanford, CQ when Loyola of Chicago's north side plays Lewis of southwest suburban Romeoville for the NCAA Division I-II title (ESPNU, 8:30). CQ
This is the first time in the tournament's 46 editions that two schools from east of the Rocky Mountains have met for the title. CQ
Division I Loyola CQ and Division II Lewis CQ also are the only two schools in northern Illinois that compete at the top level of men's college volleyball. CQ
And their success owes mainly to Chicago area players, including four of the starters for both top seed Lewis (27-3) CQ and top seed Loyola (27-2) CQ during each's semifinal win Thursday.
"It's really cool," Lewis coach Dan Friend said of the final pairing between the longtime local rivals.
"I think part of it is the growth of junior programs and high school programs in the area. We're doing a good job of keeping some of those kids local and obviously the coaches do a great job of training them."
Friend is the 2015 national coach of the year. CQ Loyola's Shane Davis CQ won that award last year, when the Ramblers joined Penn State as the only schools east of the Rockies with national titles. CQ
And Loyola junior Thomas Jaeschke of Wheaton Warrenville South CQ was named this week as national player of the year, CQ joining two previous winners from Penn State as the only recipients of that honor beyond the Pacific and Mountain time zones. CQ
Jaeschke, a junior, and freshmen Jeff Jendryk (St. Francis), CQ Ricky Gevis (Benet), CQ and Jake Selsky (Cary Grove) CQ are starters for the Ramblers.
Senior Greg Petty (Downers Grove North), juniors Scott Fifer (Sandburg) CQ and Bobby Walsh (Mount Carmel) CQ and sophomore Jacob Schmiegelt (Willowbrook) CQ are Lewis starters.
This will be the fourth Loyola-Lewis meeting of 2015. CQ The Flyers won the two regular-season conference matches 3-1, but the Ramblers won the most recent, in the conference tourney final, by the same score.
The 6-foot-11 Gevis CQ was a difference-maker in Loyola's win over Lewis, with 13 kills. He took over as outside hitter for injured freshman Ben Plaisted CQ in the conference tournament after having played just 12 sets the rest of the season, none in the other two matches with Lewis.
