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MALIBU, Calif. – No. 13 Lewis men's volleyball opened the 2012 season in a big way by defeating No. 9 Pepperdine 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 27-25) on Saturday (Jan. 7) evening.  The Lewis offense was led by junior Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North)'s (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) 21 kills. He hit .361 with two aces and four blocks.
 
“Jay was fantastic,” Lewis head coach Dan Friend said. “He had a few important swings in the back row late in the match.”
 
The Flyers out-hit the Waves .268 to .181 and held a 17 to 7.5 edge in blocks.
 
“As a team the guys blocked together,” Friend said. “That is really good to see in your first match.”
 
Lewis never trailed in the opening set. The Flyers held a lead as large as 11-5 only to see Pepperdine tie the score at 17. The score was knotted at 23 when Lewis won the set by scoring two straight points. A block by senior Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) (North Ridgeville, Ill./St. Edward) and junior Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) gave Lewis point 25.
 
Freshman Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) helped Lewis to a quick 3-0 advantage in set two thanks to a pair of aces. Lewis led 8-5 before the set changed on a 6-0 Pepperdine push. It gave the Waves a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
The third set appeared to shift on a 4-0 Pepperdine run midway through the frame. It turned a 17-14 Lewis lead into an 18-17 Pepperdine advantage. However a 5-0 run fueled by the serving of Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North), who had an ace and a kill in the stretch, gave Lewis set point at 24-19. The Waves sided out for point 20, setting up a kill by Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) for point 25.
 
The fourth set was tied 14 times. Pepperdine turned away a pair of match points after Lewis led 24-22. The Flyers finally won the match on a solo block by Flick.
 
Lewis held an 8-5 edge in aces, with Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) recording five in his first collegiate match.
 
“We did a nice job from the service line,” Friend said. “We missed quite a few but we were serving BBs and Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) was the catalyst for that.”
 
Flick led Lewis with six blocks. Karbiener finished with 10 kills, seven digs and five blocks.
 
“Ian did a nice job putting up some blocks on a fast tempo offense,” Friend said.
 
Sophomore setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) recorded 39 assists and a match-high nine digs.
 
Pepperdine is 0-1 while Lewis is 1-0. The two squads will meet again on Sunday with a 5 p.m. PT start.