Romeoville, Ill. - The No. 10 Lewis University men's volleyball team get set to host No. 13 Ball State for a White Out match on Saturday (Feb. 22) at Neil Carey Arena in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action. First serve is set for 7 PM.
LAST TIME OUT - Lewis fell 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 18-25, 15-12) to IPFW on Thursday (Feb. 20) at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Flyers out hit the Mastodons, .376 (64 K, 17 E, 125 TA) to .356 (67 E, 19 E, 125 TA) and out-blocked the home team 9.0 to 8.5 but fell short in the match.
CAREER NIGHT - Against IPFW, sophomore middle hitter Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) exploded to hit .632, collecting a career-high 13 kills and one error on 19 attempts.
AMONG THE NATION - The Flyers headed into the week sixth in the country averaging 2.92 blocks-per-set. Lewis also held the eighth-best hitting percentage (.296) coming into this week's action.
BIG HITTER - With outside hitter Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont)'s season-high 24 putaways against IPFW, he is sixth in the MIVA with 142 total kills, averaging 3.40 kills-per-set.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKS - On Feb. 17th, the Flyers were ranked at No. 10 in the seventh installment of the 2014 AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top-15 Poll. Lewis has been in the AVCA National Rankings for 56-straight weeks, dating back to Jan. 2011.
AGAINST THE MIVA - The Flyers are averaging 3.54 blocks-per-set against MIVA opponents, just behind Ball State at 3.56 blocks-per-set. Walsh is second in the MIVA averaging 0.96 blocks-per-set against league opponents while BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) is fourth, averaging 0.88 blocks-per-set.
BLOCKING THE MIVA – Walsh is second in the MIVA with 56 total blocks (9 solo, 48 BA) and sixth nationally with an 1.32 block-per-set average. Freshman Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) is fourth with 38 total blocks (3 solo, 35 BA) averaging 1.03 blocks-per-set. Boldog is eighth with 38 total blocks (9 solo, 29 BA) averaging 0.89 blocks-per-set.
UP NEXT FOR THE FLYERS - Lewis closes out February at Quincy (Feb. 28) and open March at Lindenwood (March 1). The Flyers return to Neil Carey Arena to host Ohio State (March 11) on Black Out Night and George Mason (March 14) on Leprechaun Night.
