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Romeoville, Ill. – The No. 7 Lewis University men's volleyball team registered a .430 hitting percentage (49 kills, 9 errors, 93 attempts) for the first time this season in their 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-13, 25-9) victory over Princeton on Tuesday (March 19) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
The Flyers, sweeping the season series, improve to 16-6 on the year while the Tigers fall to 8-6 on the season. Lewis defeated Princeton, 3-0, on March 8 in Princeton, New Jersey.
 
“We did a great job of putting a ton of serving pressure on Princeton tonight,” Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. “We've steadily made the steps to get better as we head into our conference matches this weekend.”
 
Redshirt senior outside hitter Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) led the Flyers with 17 kills and seven total blocks. Sophomore opposite Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) posted a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, while freshman middle hitter Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) earned nine block assists and four kills. Redshirt junior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) tallied 38 assists, seven digs and six block assists.
 
Lewis had a commanding lead from the beginning aided by Petty picking up seven of the Flyers' 13 kills in the first set as the team hit .478 (two errors, 23 attempts). Lewis' block defense earned 4.5 total team blocks to squelch any rallies by Princeton in the set.
 
In the second set, Princeton used a three-point swing to break a late 16-all score, getting kills from Michael Dye and Brad Howard while capitalizing on a Lewis attack error. The Flyers got within two at 23-21 on a Petty kill, but the Tigers' block defense picked up a big point in the next Flyer attack, killing Lewis' momentum to take the set.
 
The Flyers came out of intermission hitting at a .600 clip, picking up 17 kills in 25 attempts with only two errors. Both Fitterer and Petty earned five kills each in the third set. Junior middle hitter Yiwei Zhou (Nanjing, China/Nanjing No. 1) led Lewis' defense in the game with four block assists of the team's 5.5 total blocks.
 
Lewis kept the momentum rolling in the fourth set, using an eight-point run to take a commanding 14-4 lead. Powell picked up an ace and a kill, while Boldog, Walsh and Petty combined to earn 3.5 team blocks and the Flyers capitalized on two Tiger errors in the run. Lewis held Princeton to a -.346 hitting clip (five kills, 14 errors, 26 attempts) for the set victory.
 
Pat Schwagler led Princeton with 16 kills while Davis Waddell earned 40 assists in the contest.
 
The Flyers return to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play this weekend when they head to St. Charles, Mo., to take on Lindenwood on Friday (March 22). First serve is set for 7 PM at Hyland Arena.