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Romeoville, Ill. – On a career night for Lewis University redshirt senior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), the No. 10 men's volleyball team fell to No. 1 UC Irvine 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-23) on Wednesday (Jan. 1) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
Boldog turned in a floor-high 39 assists to become the Lewis program leader with 3,395 total assists in the rally-scoring era. He passed Mike Iandolo's (2008-10) mark of 3,389 helpers.
 
The Flyers move to 0-1 on the season while the Anteaters improve to 2-0.
 
"Our guys came out and battled tonight," Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. "We just made a few too many unforced errors at the wrong time.
 
"We know we can be better than that and we will clean up those areas as the season goes on."
 
The Lewis offense was led by junior outside hitter Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) as he collected a double-double with 10 digs and 13 kills and six errors on 28 total attempts to hit .250. He also picked up four block assists and three aces. Redshirt junior outside hitter Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) also picked up 13 kills for the Flyer attack. Sophomore middle blocker Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) picked up seven total blocks (1 solo, 6 block assists) and four kills while junior libero Lucas Yanez (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) tallied 12 digs.
 
In the first set the Flyers came out hot, swinging .389 with 10 kills and three errors on 18 attempts. Lewis held UCI to hit only .080 with 10 kills and eight errors in 25 attempts. The Flyers also out blocked the Anteaters 4-to-1. Both redshirt freshman middle hitter Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) and Powell tallied three kills in the 25-21 set victory.
 
In the second set, UCI turned the momentum on the Flyers. The Anteaters took a 9-5 lead on four Flyer attack errors and two kills by Connor Hughes. Lewis got within three points at 22-19 on a kill by Powell but UCI forced two Lewis errors and picked up a kill by Scott Kevorken to close out the set, 25-19.
 
The squads battled in the third set for the upper hand as the game had 14 ties and three lead changes. The Flyers hit .233 with 12 kills and five errors on 30 attempts and collected 5.5 total blocks as Petty and Powell both picked up four kills. Redshirt junior opposite Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) tallied a putaway to tie the set at 24-all, but the Anteaters picked up a kill by Zack La Cavera and a Lewis error to take the set, 26-24.
 
In the fourth set, the Anteaters took a commanding 4-0 lead before the Flyers collected a point on an UCI serving error. Lewis battled to get within one at 24-23 on back-to-back UCI errors but an untimely serving error gave the Anteaters the set, 25-23, and the match.
 
UC Irvine was led by Jeremy Dejino and La Cavera as they collect 14 kills each. The Anteaters' setter Michael Saeta tallied 30 assists and 11 digs while Collin Mehring had seven total blocks and four kills.
 
The Flyers are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 4), when they host No. 3 Brigham Young at Neil Carey Arena. First serve is set for 7 PM.