Feb. 22, 2008

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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Behind a double-double by junior Drew Pickering the Flyers defeated UC San Diego 3-1 (30-27, 27-30, 30-25, 30-27) at Neil Carey Arena Friday night in a non-conference match.

The opening game was close throughout as the two teams tied 15 times and changed leads five times. It looked like the Tritons may be pulling away after a kill by UC San Diego's Russ Hardy gave them a 22-20 advantage, but the Flyers responded by scoring the next three points. Junior Alex Vigansky was responsible for two of the three points with a kill and an ace. UC San Diego tied it at 23 and 24 before Flyers scored four of the next five points to take a 28-25 lead and cruise to the victory.

Game two was close as well with 14 ties and five lead changes. This time it was the Tritons breaking away with a 4-1 run that turned a 21 all game into a 25-22 Flyers deficit. The Tritons' Jason Spangler finished game with a kill to give game two to UC San Diego.

After a close opening two games, games three and four were all Flyers. A 4-0 run to start game three helped the Flyers build a 17-9 advantage. UC San Diego cut the lead down to four points, but could get no closer as Lewis finished with a five-point game three victory. The Flyers controlled game four, out-hitting the Tritons .375 to .124 in the final game.

Pickering tallied 13 kills and 11 digs. His .480 hitting percentage is the second best by a Flyer this year. Senior Jared Dayton had a team-high 15 kills, three digs and three block assists. Junior Billy Sahagian totaled 11 kills with a .353 hitting percentage and eight block assists. Vigansky had nine kills, six block assists and three aces. Lewis out-blocked (18.0 to 9.0) and out-hit (.222 to .133) the Tritons

The win was the first home victory over a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation school in Lewis history. The Flyers fell to BYU and Cal State Northridge earlier this season. They also lost to Pepperdine in 2004 and Pacific in 2005.

For the Tritons, Jason Spangler had a match-high 25 kills with 12 digs. Eric Leserman had 17 digs. Hardy had eight kills.

Lewis (8-5) hosts California Baptist tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. UC San Diego (4-11) hosts Loyola-Chicago at 5 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena in day two of the Lewis Invitational.