Complete Game Notes

No. 7 in the nation and No. 3 seeded Lewis men's volleyball (26-6) travels to the National Semifinals on Thursday (May 3) to play No. 1 nationally and No. 2 seeded Southern California (23-5) at the Galen Center at 8 p.m. PT/10 p.m. CT. It is Lewis' first visit to the National Semifinals since 2004. Live stats and a live video link will be found on NCAA.com. A win advances Lewis to the National Championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT/9 p.m. CT. The title match will be aired live on ESPNU.
 
LAST TIME OUT - Lewis defeated Ohio State 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 27-25, 15-10) on Saturday (April 28) in the 2012 MIVA Championship.
 
LAST MEETING – USC and Lewis last met on March 6, 2008, at the Galen Center. Lewis walked away with a 3-0 victory defeating the then No. 8 Trojans 30-24, 30-27, 30-22. Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) and Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) were on the 2008 team but didn't play in the match
 
AGAINST THE TROJANS – Lewis is 2-3 all-time against USC. The first win came in 2004 when the Flyers beat the Trojans 3-2 (26-30, 22-30, 30-28, 30-20, 15-12) and the second victory was the 2008 match.
 
WE'RE BACK – The Flyers played USC during the fall of 2011 at the Galen Center in the Trojans' preseason exhibition tournament.

WE'RE SMART TOO - Lewis had a conference-best 15 Flyers selected to the Academic All-MIVA Team. The award recognizes MIVA student-athletes who held a cumualtive GPA of 3.0 or better after the fall semester.

ALL WE DO IS WIN - Lewis' 26 wins this year are the most in the nation.
 
IT'S ALL IN THE FLICK OF THE WRIST - Not only is senior Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) recording a career high hitting percentage. but his .517 mark is also the best in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Flick's hitting percentage, if the season ended today, would stand as the highest single season total in school history. The current single-season best total is .493 (287-51-479) by Paul Aviles in 2000.
 
HOME SWEET HOME - Thanks to Lewis' win over Loyola on April 25, Lewis will finish the 2012 season with a perfect 16-0 home record.
 
BOLDOG DISHIN' - Lewis setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) has surpassed the 1,000 assist plateau for a second consecutive season. He has 1,109 assists this season. He recorded 1,104 in his freshman season in 2011.
 
NATIONAL HONORS - BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) were named to the AVCA All-America Second Team last week. It's the first All-America honor for both Flyers.
 
EIGHT IS GREAT - Eight Flyers earned MIVA Offensive or Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) led the Flyers with three Offensive Player of the Week Awards this year.
 
ALL-MIVA – Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North), BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) were named to the 2012 All-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association First Team. Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) took home All-MIVA Second Team honors
 
HEY THEY'VE HAD FIVE YEARS - Lewis fifth-year senior middle blockers Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) and Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) rank among the best blockers in school history. Flick is tied for fourth all-time in block assists (310) and ranks sixth in total blocks (343). Gallik ranks third in block assists (314) and fourth in total blocks (355).
 
JAY CAN PLAY – Thanks to his 25 kills at Ohio State on Saturday, Petty moved into the top 10 all-time in Lewis history in kills. He sits 10th with 903.
 
CALIFORNIA LOVE – California natives, freshman Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) and junior Eric Varney (Oak Park, Calif./Oak Park) return home for the NCAA Championships. Powell grew up in Claremont while Varney calls Oak Park home.

GOING COASTAL – Lewis is 3-2 against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams this season. The Flyers defeated Hawaii and lost to UCLA at the Outrigger Invitational in Honolulu. Lewis went 1-1 at Pepperdine and won at Long Beach State.
 
BIG WINS – In addition to Lewis three MPSF wins, Lewis also defeated NCAA Semifinalist Penn State earlier this season. The last time Lewis defeated Penn State in the same season and three MPSF schools was 2000 when the Flyers topped Stanford, San Diego State and Cal. State Northridge in addition to Penn State.
 
KEEP THE BROOMS – Lewis has been swept just one this season, March 31 at Ohio State. The Flyers were able to avenge that loss in the MIVA Championship.
 
A GREAT TIME FOR A FIRST – Saturday's MIVA Championship match was the first time all season Lewis won despite having fewer kills in a contest. Ohio State finished the match with 161 kills while Lewis notched 148.
 
IT'S A BLOCK PARTY – Lewis out-blocked Ohio State 21.5 to 5 in the MIVA Championship match on Saturday. It was the most blocks the Flyers have recorded in a match since April 6, 2010, when Lewis recorded 26.0 blocks against Ball State.
 
LIKE IT'S 2009 – Lewis' win at Ohio State in the MIVA Championship was the Flyers' first at St. John Arena since 2009. Lewis lost to the Buckeyes in Columbus in the regular season in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Throw in a neutral site loss to Ball State in the MIVA Tournament in 2009 and the Flyers' win over Ohio State on Saturday had to feel extra special.
 
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN – When Lewis made their first appearance in the NCAA Semifinals in 1996 it was also in Los Angeles. However, it was at UCLA and the Flyers lost to the host Bruins 3-0.
 
PASSING IS KEY – Lewis has six matches this season where they didn't allow an ace. Lewis hasn't allowed more than two aces in a match since a March 31st contest at Ohio State when they allowed three.
 
I WOULD WALK 5,000 MILES (FOR A WIN) - Lewis has wins in Honolulu, Hawaii (over Hawaii and Springfield) and Newark, N.J. (over NJIT) this year. Those two locales are separated by 4,958 miles.
 
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY - Five Flyers have siblings playing collegiate sports:
Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice)- Andy (brother) - Freshman Boston College, Football
Tom Logan (Kenmore, Wash./Bishop Blanchet)- Bridget (sister)- Junior UTEP, Volleyball
Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville)- Kayla (sister)- Junior Alabama, Volleyball
Andy Orf (St. Charles, Mo./Christian Brothers)- Lydia (sister)- Junior Murray State, Volleyball
Omar Sanchez (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South)- Bianca (sister)- Sophomore Illinois-Springfield, Volleyball
 
CELEB FANS – When Lewis traveled to California earlier in the season to play Pepperdine, the Flyers were spotted at The Grove by the television show Extra. The team ended up being “extras” on the show and host Mario Lopez tweeted a picture of himself with the team. Flash forward to Monday Lopez was kind enough to retweet a message from the @LewisMVBall account to Lopez' 450,715 followers.
 
COME ON DOWN – The Flyers were at The Grove before they attended a taping of the Price is Right. Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) was lucky enough to be called down to contestant's row, but he didn't make it on stage.