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Romeoville, Ill. – The No. 9 Lewis University men's volleyball had a return trip to the National Semifinal slip through their fingers as No. 12 Loyola won the 2013 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championship, 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 25-22, 15-7) on Saturday (April 27) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
The Flyers wrap up the season with a 20-10 record while the Ramblers improve to 22-9.
 
“Loyola controlled the ball better than us,” Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. “There were some great things that we did tonight that won't show up on the stat sheet.
 
“It boiled down to a few digs here and there, and a few better passes by Loyola.”
 
Sophomore opposite Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) led the Flyers with 16 kills, six digs and three block assists while redshirt sophomore Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) had 15 putaways, eight digs and two block assists. Redshirt junior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) had 44 assists, nine digs and two block assists, as freshman middle blocker Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) had seven kills while collecting one solo block and four block assists.
 
In the first set, the Flyers put together a .583 hitting percentage, picking up 14 kills on 24 total attempts with no errors and out-blocking the Ramblers, 3.5 total team blocks to zero. Powell paced Lewis with six kills while Fitterer picked up five putaways in the set victory.
 
In a tight second set, the Flyers were unable to find an answer to Loyola's Joseph Smalzer, who had a set-high six kills of the Ramblers' 14 kills. Loyola broke away late in the set, as Smalzer picked up a kill and a service ace to score the last two points to tie the match at a set apiece.
 
Lewis came out of the intermission fired up for the third set. The Flyers swung at a .529 clip (11 kills, 2 errors, 17 attempts) while holding the Ramblers to a -.130 (6 kills, 9 errors, 23 total attempts). Fitterer had four kills and a service ace in the set while Powell picked up three putaways. Walsh led the Flyers with two block assists as Lewis continued to hold an 8-to-1 team block advantage over Loyola in the match.
 
The squads were knotted up at 17-all in the fourth set before Loyola took control. The Ramblers took advantage of three late Flyer errors for the set victory and force a fifth.
 
The Flyers were unable to stop the Ramblers momentum in the fifth set, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead, which they never relinquished. 
 
Lewis' redshirt senior outside Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) Boldog, Powell and Fitterer were named to the MIVA All-Tournament Team while Loyola's Smalzer, who was named Tournament MVP, was joined by teammates Thomas Jaeschke and Cody Caldwell.