After rallying from a 2-0 deficit to knock of defending champion Calvert Hall, last Friday, the Gilman volleyball team arrived at Blakefield with a 6-0 record on Wednesday afternoon.  The Greyhounds, however, left with their first loss at the host Dons were impressive during a 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 sweep.

The victory ended a six match losing streak to Gilman for Coach Tim Baier’s Dons going back to the Greyhounds’ victory over Loyola in the 2008 MIAA A Conference championship match.

Gilman won the first point in the first game, but from there it was all Loyola, as the Dons took a quick 4-1 lead and went up by as many as 11 points (18-7) before they won the first game 25-16.

Loyola raced out to a 4-0 lead in game two, and wwas winning 6-3 when setter Dave Marsh, who had 30 assists on the day, made a spectacular save as he crashed into the Loyola bench, knocking over a chair and tumbling to the floor.  The save seemed to charge Loyola’s battery even more, and they cruised to two more wins, 25-19 and 25-18 to complete the sweep and improve to 3-1 in conference play.

“That play was the defining moment today,” said Baier.

Loyola’s Ryan Quesenberry, who had eight kills and three blocks agreed.

“That play sparked us in game two,” said Quesenberry.  “We had lots of great hits from (Alec) Dauses, (Chris) Macon, and (Andrew) Stromberg.”

Macon had seven kills and three blocks, and Matt Verderamo, who Baier describes as a great defensive player, had nine digs.

Marsh gave all the credit to his team.

“We played as hard as we could,” said Marsh.  “We played smart volleyball; we didn’t make mistakes, and we played great defense.”

Gilman coach Neil Gabbey said that Loyola outworked his team on Wednesday.

“We go down 2-0 at our place (last Friday) against Calvert Hall and we have enough guts to
fight back and win (3-2),” said Gabbey  “In this league you can’t do that on the road, and you can’t do that in back-to-back matches.”

Gabbey praised Loyola.

“They out-served us, out-received us, out-dug us, and they hit smarter than we did.”

Both teams are now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

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