April 11, 2007

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Nick Perakes set a Lewis rally-scoring era record with 20 digs, but No. 15 Ball State used a strong game-five effort to hold off the Flyers 30-25, 23-30, 30-26, 15-7, Wednesday night in conference action at Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers fell to 17-12 and finished their conference schedule with a 5-7 record, earning two more conference wins than a season ago. Ball State improved to 15-11 (7-4) and clinched a home match for the first round of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament, a match which most likely will be against the Flyers.

Perakes' 20 digs were one better than the old rally-scoring era record set by Ryan Stuntz against Pepperdine on May 1, 2003, and just two shy of Lewis' all-time record set by Eduardo Quinones during the 2000 season.

Four Flyers reached double-digits in kills against Ball State. Jared Dayton led Lewis with 22 kills, Drew Pickering had 16 and Alex Vigansky and Billy Sahagian each contributed 10. Jordan Vidovic totaled 65 assists, matching the second-highest assist total of his career.

Nick Meyer paced the Cardinals with a match-best 23 kills. Matt McCarthy added 17 behind a .654 hitting effort, and Todd Chamberlain collected 16. Ian Peckler posted 10 digs.

The Flyers trailed 2-1 in the match and found themselves down 25-20 in game four before charging back with five consecutive points. The teams battled back and forth for the next several points, tying the score three more times before a kill by Sahagian and an attack error by the Cardinals gave the Flyers a 31-29 decision.

Ball State quickly recovered the momentum in game five. The Cardinals opened a 3-0 lead and never looked back in cruising to the eight-point win.

The Cardinals held a .329 to .289 advantage in hitting. Blocks were even at 11.5 per side.

Lewis plays its final home match of the season on Friday, hosting Penn State at 7 pm.