Romeoville, Ill. - The No. 10 Lewis University men's volleyball team opens Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play on Wednesday (Feb. 5th) when the Flyers (7-2, 0-0 MIVA) hosts No. 2 Loyola (7-1, 1-0 MIVA) at Neil Carey Arena. First serve is set for 7 PM.

Live stats and video of the match can be found on www.lewisflyers.com. Fans can catch play-by-play of the match on WLRA (88.1).

SERIES RECORD – Loyola holds a slim 23-21 series lead over Lewis, after the squads split the regular season match-ups in 2013.

LAST TIME WE FACED OFF - The squads last met in the 2013 MIVA Championship match at Neil Carey Arena on April 27th. The Ramblers outlasted the Flyers in a five set (23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 25-22, 15-7) thriller and advanced to the NCAA National Semifinals. For the Flyers, Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) collected 15 kills, while Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) chipped in 16 putaways.

AMONG THE NATION - The Flyers are fourth in the nation averaging 3.08 blocks-per-set. They also are seventh with a .300 (390 K, 143 E, 823 TA).

BLOCKING the MIVA – Sophomore Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) is second in the conference in total blocks (40) and sixth nationally with an 1.43 block-per-set average, which has him fourth nationally while freshman Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) is fourth with 31 total blocks and 19th nationally averaging 1.19 blocks-per-set.

TOP OF THE MIVA - Junior libero Lucas Yanez (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) is third in the conference averaging 2.29 digs-per-set while tallying 64 total digs in 28 total sets. Junior outside hitter Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) is in the top-5 with a .325 hitting percentage (88 K, 34 E, 166 TA).

COACH FRIEND VS. THE MIVA - Lewis head coach Dan Friend opens up 2014 MIVA action with a 65-47 (.580) record, including collecting MIVA regular season titles in 2012 and 2013.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKS - On Feb. 3rd, the Flyers were ranked at No. 10 in the sixth installment of the 2014 AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top-15 Poll. Lewis has been in the AVCA National Rankings for 54-straight weeks, dating back to Jan. 2011.

UP NEXT FOR THE FLYERS - Lewis will host the first-year program from McKendree on Block Blue Night on Friday (Feb. 7th).