Jan. 5, 2005
Final Stats
HONOLULU, Hawaii--The fans of University of Hawaii's Outrigger Invitational were treated to a thrilling opening match of the tournament that pitted Lewis University and defending NCAA men's volleyball national champions BYU.
Three of the four games were extended beyond the standard 30 points required for victory as Lewis lost its season opener to the Cougars 26-30, 32-30, 32-34, 30-32. The match was Lewis' first since losing to BYU in the 2004 NCAA semifinal.
Three Flyers (0-1) had at least 12 kills and Lewis outblocked BYU 11-9.5, but the Cougars (1-0) were able to pull out slim victories in games 3 and 4.
Game 1 saw the teams tied at 24-all before BYU rattled off three straight points to take a 27-24 lead. The mini-burst was enough to give the Cougars the cushion needed to claim the opening game.
Game 2 saw neither team lead by more than three points and had eight lead changes. The Flyers led 22-21, but BYU would eventually eke ahead to 29-27. Following a Lewis timeout, junior Enrique Escalante pounded a kill to bring the Flyers within one. An attacking error from BYU's Ivan Perez then knotted the game at 29.
BYU's Michael Burke pushed the Cougars ahead 30-29 with a kill, but Lewis senior Jeff Soler answered with a kill to tie the game for the 15th time. Fellow seniors Greg Pochopien and Matt Mueller then teamed for a block of Victor Batista. On the ensuing play, Batista's attack attempt sailed out of bounds and the Flyers earned the 32-30 win.
Game 3 was as closely contested as the first two, but this time Lewis had the tide turned late in the game. Leading 26-22, the Flyers were unable to hold back BYU's charge and eventually fell behind 29-28. The Cougars overcame their four-point deficit via three Lewis hitting errors, a service error and an ace serve.
Undeterred, Lewis tied the game at 29-all after a BYU service error. In fact five of the game's final seven points were scored because of BYU and Lewis serving miscues. Batista secured the game for the Cougars with one of his match-high 18 kills.
The Flyers trailed by as many as seven points in game 4 after falling behind 21-14. However, the team stormed back to forge a tie at 25. This time it was BYU that would falter. The Cougars were aced once and committed three service errors, three hitting errors and a ball-handling error. Lewis was never able to take the lead though, and BYU was able to hold on for the 32-30 win.
Soler paced Lewis with 15 kills and hit .387. He also had two aces, eight digs and three blocks. Escalante added 12 kills, two aces and four blocks, while Jared Dayton had 12 kills three aces and three blocks. Setter Brandon Sisk handed out 43 assists.
Batista was supported by Burke's 16 kills and team-high five blocks. Russell Holmes contributed with nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
Lewis will continue play in the Outrigger Invitational Thursday, Jan. 6 when it will face tournament host Hawaii at 7 p.m.
