Loyola men's volleyball team looks to get back to NCAA Tournament
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Loyola men's volleyball team is having a bit of a resurgence in head coach John Hawks' first year leading the program.
The Ramblers recently grabbed a share of its first regular season conference title since 2018 with a team that landed a league-leading three players on the First Team All-Conference squad and Hawks being named coach of the year.
Now, the Ramblers are trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 when they were back-to-back national champions.
"I'm definitely closest on the team to that era and so it's been cool to get back to that point and to see what it takes to get to that point," said outside hitter Cole Schlothauer. "Because it's different. It's a different level of intensity. It's a different level of training in the gym."
"They're all in for each other and they hang out with each other all the time," Hawks said. "They support each other when things are going good, when things are going bad and I think that's the mark of this team. They're just resilient and tough in good moments."
Loyola hosts the No. 7 seed in the opening round of the MIVA Tournament on Saturday night at 7 p.m.