Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  / UCSB Box Score (pdf)

Santa Barbara, Calif. – No. 5 Lewis University men's volleyball team dropped both of their matches on the first day of the UCSB Asics Invitational on Friday (Jan. 4).
 
Lewis fell in their first round match of the UCSB Asics Invitational 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 30-32, 23-25, 12-15) to UC San Diego on Friday (Jan. 4) morning. In the evening, the Flyers took on tournament host No. 13 UC Santa Barbara, falling 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) at Robb Gym. 
 
“UC San Diego stepped up their level of play in the third set,” Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. “We struggled to keep up and made some untimely errors to their advantage.”
 
In the first match, redshirt sophomore Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) helped the Flyers take an early two set lead, posting 26 kills.
 
“Geoff made some really good in and out of system swings,” Friend said. “He hit well today especially early on.”
 
Fifth-year Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) added 14 kills while sophomore Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) chipped in 11 kills.
 
Setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) had 58 assists for the Flyers.
 
In first set of the nightcap against UC Santa Barbara, Lewis tied the first set at 6-6 on a serving error by UCSB. The Flyers were unable to hold serve and Gauchos went on a 4-1 run. UCSB steadily built a lead to hold Lewis to eight kills and forced eight errors to win 25-15.
 
“We didn't have the energy level tonight that we needed to compete,” Friend said. “We couldn't match what UCSB was doing.”
 
The second set saw the Flyers tie the match at 5-5 but fell behind quickly by three due to attack errors. UCSB pushed their lead to seven points off a kill by Austin Kingi and three straight service aces by Dylan Davis to win the set 25-19.
 
Lewis and UCSB were knotted up 11 times in the third set before the Gauchos put together a four-point swing to go up 12-16 on kills from Kingi and two Lewis attack errors.
 
The Flyers were able to chip at the Gauchos' lead with kills from Sean Nelson (East Hampton, Conn./Xavier), Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville), Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) and Powell late in the set but fell 25-19.
 
Powell led the Flyers with seven kills and three blocks against UCSB. Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) chipped in six kills and six digs while Boldog had 21 assists, three kills and one block.
 
“This is why we came to this tournament,” Friend said. “To see what we have to work on.”
 
Lewis wraps up the UCSB Asics Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 5) with a match against No. 15 California Baptist at 11 AM PT.