Jan. 18, 2005

Final Stats

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The 15th-ranked Lewis University men's volleyball sent a warning shot across the bow of the schools in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association that it will remain a force to be reckoned with in the 2005 season.

The Flyers shot down 14th-ranked Ball State 30-25, 30-23, 34-32 en route to their first victory of the season. Lewis (1-3, 1-0 MIVA) breezed through the first two games hitting a combined .446 and then overcame an eight-point deficit in game 3 to sweep the match. The victory was Lewis' sixth straight over the Cardinals.

"This helps show that we're going to be solid, we're going to be right at the top of the MIVA," said Lewis University head coach Dan Friend. "I think this sends a strong message to the league that we will be a tough match for everyone."

Lewis took control of the match early, building a four-point lead midway through game 1. The Flyers then held that advantage the rest of the way as they earned the 30-25 win. The team hit .452 in the game and was sparked by the combined efforts of Matt Mueller and Jared Dayton who teamed for eight kills and zero hitting errors on 13 attempts.

The first half of game 2 was a continuation of the opener with Lewis establishing a 16-11 lead. However, Ball State (3-1, 0-1 MIVA) would eventually tie the game at 18-all before the Flyers made another run and rebuilt the lead to 26-21. Greg Pochopien and Mueller ended the game with a block that capped Ball State's hitting percentage at .146 in the game.

Ball State rallied in game 3 and looked to bury Lewis. The Cardinals racked up a 15-7 lead midway through the game and played with an energy not seen in the first two games.

Trailing 25-21, Lewis' Enrique Escalante took the service line and delivered a rocket that shanked off Ball State's Evan Berg for an ace. Escalante proceeded to serve the Flyers to 25-24 before a service error momentarily ended the run.

Ball State rebounded to stake a 29-25 lead, but Lewis would not be denied. Jeff Soler produced a mix of hard and soft serves that kept Ball State off rhythm and led to Lewis tying the game at 29-all following a Mueller kill.

Berg answered for the Cardinals with a kill, giving Ball State its sixth game point. Zoran Grabovac's service error wiped out that chance and Lewis gained control after a Luis Castera hitting error. Leading 31-30, the Flyers never again trailed. Dayton delivered a kill to make the score 33-32 and Castera ended the match with another hitting error.

"Enrique's ace jump-started our run," said Friend. "He blew off a couple aces and they made a couple mistakes and we were right back in it."

Soler paced the team with a match-high 17 kills while hitting .481. Dayton added 12 kills with zero hitting errors in 20 attempts. He hit a team-best .600 and had three blocks. Mueller added eight kills with three blocks, while Pochopien had a match-high six blocks.

Lewis had 10 team blocks compared to Ball State's two and outhit the Cardinals .409-.223.