Loyola has now seen two programs reach NCAA Tournaments within the past nine months — men’s basketball last March and, most recently, the women’s soccer team. Director of Athletics Steve Watson pointed to the achievements of all the programs this fall and said the rising successes of athletics hasn’t happened overnight.
“It’s really been a growth over a number of years,” Watson said. “I think the more recent success started with our men’s volleyball team, winning their back-to-back National Championships in [2014] and [2015] … I think what we’ve seen over the last five or six years is really building up to more competitive success and we’re really seeing it across the board.