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Romeoville, Ill. – After tying the match at a set apiece, the No. 10 Lewis University men's volleyball team was unable to stop No. 2 Loyola University's momentum, falling 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19) on Wednesday (Feb. 5) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
The Flyers fall to 7-3 on the year and 0-1 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, while the Ramblers improve to 8-1 on the season and 2-0 in league play.
 
"After the 10-minute break, Loyola stepped it up a notch," Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. "We didn't meet those same standards as Loyola put serving pressure on us.
 
"Unfortunately, we got knocked back on our heels and weren't able to recover in game three and four."
 
The Lewis offense was led by redshirt junior outside hitter Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) with 14 kills, two block assists and a service ace, while junior outside hitter Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) chipped in 10 kills and a block assist. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) hit .364 with five kills and one error on 11 attempts, while collecting two block assists. Redshirt senior setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) dished out 33 assists and tallied one solo block and three block assists while junior libero Lucas Yanez (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) collected eight digs.
 
In a tight first set, the Flyers took a 23-21 lead on a Powell kill. The Ramblers then picked up a putaway by Cody Caldwell and collected three Lewis errors to take the set 25-23. Lewis out-blocked Loyola 3.0-1.0 but only hit .333 (11 K, 4 E, 21 TA) while the Ramblers swung .407 (16 K, 5 E, 27 TA).
 
Lewis jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, collecting kills from Boldog and redshirt junior opposite Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) and a solo block by sophomore middle blocker Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel), as well as a Loyola miscue. The Flyers were able to hold onto a comfortable lead to tie the match at a set apiece, 25-21. Petty and Powell both picked up three kills in the set, as the Flyers picked up five more total blocks to the Ramblers four for a 8.0-5.0 advantage.
 
In the third set, the Flyers were unable to rebound from the Ramblers 7-1 run to start the game. Lewis couldn't find a good rhythm in the set, only hitting .259 (11 K, 4 E, 27 TA) to the Ramblers .333 (12K, 3 E, 27 TA) and dropped the set, 25-17.

Loyola carried their momentum into the final set to hit .500 with 13 kills and two errors on 22 attempts for the set, 25-19, and match victory. Lewis was held to a .111 (10 K, 7 E, 27 TA) hitting percentage.

The Flyers were able to out-block Loyola, 8-5, in the first two sets but the Ramblers evened the blocking total to nine each.
 
The Loyola offense was led by Thomas Jaeschke's 18 kills, nine digs and two block assists while Dainis Berzins chipped in 10 putaways, three total blocks and a service ace. Peter Hutz dished out a floor-high 43 assists, collected seven digs and a block assist.
 
The Flyers return to Neil Carey Arena on Friday (Feb. 7) to host McKendree. First serve is set for 7 PM on Block Blue Night. Donations will be collected at the door for the Zero Foundation to further their mission in prostate cancer research.