April 9, 2005

Box Score

FINDLAY, OHIO - For the second time in as many meetings, the Lewis University men's volleyball team locked up with a five-set battle against Findlay.

Findlay (16-12, 6-9 MIVA) defeated the No. 14 Flyers (14-13, 8-5 MIVA) 30-26, 29-31, 34-32, 23-30, 15-13 to sweep the season series from Lewis.

After losing game 1, Lewis trailed 29-27 in the second game. Flyer middle hitter Enrique Escalante served Lewis back into the set giving the Flyers a 30-29 advantage. After an Oiler sideout, Lewis closed out the game 32-30 and evened the match at one set a piece.

Game 4 saw the Flyers take advantage of Findlay's .189 hitting percentage while hitting .258.

In game five the Oilers jumped out of the gates early going up 3-0 before an Oiler service error. A Flyer error put Findlay up 8-5 at the midpoint.

Lewis fell behind 14-10 before senior Matt Mueller had a service run of three points to cut the lead to 14-13. Unfortunately, his next serve sailed long past the endline to give Findlay the victory.

The Oilers hit .279 to the Flyers .235 while also topping the Flyers in the service aces (8 to 3), digs (31 to 24) and blocking (17.5 to 10).

Lewis had five players in double digit kills--Greg Pochopien (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) (16), Enrique Escalante (15), Mattt Mueller (12), Jared Dayton (11), Jeff Soler (10). Brandon Sisk had a match-high 59 assists while J.J. Castellano led the Flyer backcourt with nine digs. Pochopien paced the team with six blocks.

Lewis returns home for its final home match of the season when it hosts IPFW at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 13.