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Romeoville, Ill. – Redshirt senior outside hitter Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) (Downers Grove, Ill./ Downers Grove North) led the No. 12 Lewis University men's volleyball team with 13 kills and five total blocks in the Flyers' 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) victory over Ball State on Friday (Feb. 22) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
The Flyers improve to 10-5 on the year and 6-0 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play while the Cardinals fall to 8-4 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.
 
A big key to Lewis' victory was out-blocking Ball State, 15 to five, including a match-high seven block assists from freshman middle hitter Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel).
 
“We scouted Ball State really well,” Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. “The guys executed the game plan.
 
“We were able to take advantage of Ball State's different style of play and transition that into points.”
 
The Flyers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, getting two kills from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) and a kill each from sophomore opposite Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) and Petty. The Cardinals were able to get within three points at 15-12 and again at 21-18 but the Flyers got a kill each from Petty and junior middle hitter Yiwei Zhou (Nanjing, China/Nanjing No. 1) (Nanjing, China/Nanjing No. 1) as well as a block assist from the duo of Walsh and Powell and a Ball State error to take the first set 25-20.

Ball State picked up their intensity in the second set, holding the lead at 18-17, but it was the Lewis' 12 block assists in the set that gave the Flyers the edge, 25-23. Zhou led the Flyers with three block assists in the set.
 
After breaking the 4-all tie on a kill from Petty in the third set, the Flyers quickly built a six-point lead at 12-6. Petty registered two kills and two block assists with Walsh and Boldog while the Flyers took advantage of three Ball State errors in the run. The Cardinals used a mini run to get within five at 18-13, but the Flyers countered with an 8-4 run to close out the set. Powell earned the match-winning kill set up by redshirt junior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) (Palatine, Ill./Palatine). Boldog earned 30 of the Flyers 37 assists while tallying five kills on six attempts and four block assists.
 
Greg Herceg led Ball State with 12 kills while Graham McIlvaine earned 24 assists.
 
Lewis next hosts IPFW at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday (Feb. 23) with first serve at 7 PM. Saturday's match will also be broadcasted live on Lakeshore Public Television, which can be seen in the area on channels 17 or 21 on Comcast and channel 56 on satellite.