Box Score  / Box Score (pdf)

Chicago, Ill. – The No. 14 Lewis University men's volleyball team won for the first time at Loyola since the 2008 season on Saturday (Feb. 16) with a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21) victory at the Norville Center for Intercollegiate Athletics in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play.
 
The Flyers improve to 9-5 on the season and are now 5-0 in MIVA action for the first time in the Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend era. The Ramblers fall to 9-6 on the year and 2-1 in league play.
 
“Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) and Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) did a good job of taking advantage of offensive opportunities to score points for us,” Friend said. “It was a great team performance and we were able to keep improving on the little things.”
 
Powell led the Flyers with five of his 18 kills in the first set. Lewis hit .440 collecting 12 kills with one error on 25 total attempts as they held Loyola to .192 hitting percentage on 11 kills with six errors in 26 attempts, taking the set 25-21.
 
In the second set, Loyola's Joseph Smalzer almost earned more kills by himself with six than the seven the Flyers were able to put together. Loyola took the set 25-21, despite Lewis holding the Ramblers to a .114 hitting percentage (15 kills, 11 errors, 35 attempts).
 
The Flyers were able to regroup in the third set, getting five kills from Powell as well as a service ace each from Fitterer and freshman middle hitter Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel). Lewis took the set 25-19.
 
Lewis carried its momentum into the fourth set, led by Powell's set-high seven kills on eight attempts with no errors. Redshirt freshman Patrick Lilly (East Northport, N.Y./Commack) (East Northport, N.Y./Commack) served two aces in the Flyers' 25-21 set victory.
 
Redshirt junior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) was credited with 41 of the Flyers' 47 assists while junior Yiwei Zhou (Nanjing, China/Nanjing No. 1) (Nanjing, China/Nanjing No. 1) posted a team-high four block assists. Fitterer tallied 12 kills for his sixth-straight match with double-figure putaways, as well as three digs, three block assists and two service aces.
 
Smalzer's 16 kills led Loyola while Thomas Jaeschke tallied 13 kills, seven digs and three total blocks. Trevor Novotny posted 10 kills and six digs.
 
Lewis returns to Neil Carey Arena for two more MIVA contests next week, hosting Ball State on Friday (Feb. 22) and IPFW on Saturday (Feb. 23) on Lakeshore Public Television. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 PM. Friday night is Club Volleyball Night while fans are encouraged to Red Out Neil Carey Arena for the Flyers televised match. Lakeshore PTV can be seen over the air and on satellite through DirectTV and Dish Network on Channel 56 and on Comcast Cable 17 or 21 throughout its viewing area.