Men's Volleyball | 2/11/2015 4:43:00 PM

The No. 2 Lewis University men's volleyball is set to play two conference matches this weekend. The Flyers (10-1, 2-0 MIVA) will hit the road Thursday (Feb. 12) to take on No. 15 Ball State (7-3, 2-1 MIVA) and head straight back home to face No. 9 IPFW (9-2, 3-0 MIVA) on Saturday (Feb. 14). Thursday's match is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at John E. Worthen Arena (Muncie, Ind.). Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT in Romeoville. It will be Video Game Character Night at Neil Carey Arena. Links for live stats and free video for both matches can be found at www.LewisFlyers.com.

VS. BALL STATE – The Flyers won all three matchups against the Cardinals last season, including a 3-2 victory in the MIVA Tournament Semifinals on April 23 at Neil Carey Arena (Romeoville, Ill.). Lewis dominated the final two sets, winning 25-13 and 15-8. During the Dan Friend era, Lewis is 10-14 against Ball State.

VS. IPFW – In their last meeting, Lewis came back to beat IPFW 3-2 after being down 2-1 heading into the fourth set. In the fifth set the Flyers held the Mastodons to a .148 hitting percentage to complete the comeback win. Senior Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) led the Flyers with a .452 hitting percentage and 27 kills in 42 attempts. Lewis is 13-8 against IPFW during the Dan Friend era.

ON THE BALL – This will be the final season for Mastodons head coach Arnie Ball. In his 34 years with IPFW the legendary head coach has accumulated over 500 career wins.

FAMILY TIES – Lewis junior Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) will be going up against his younger brother and Ball State freshman Matt Walsh. Both are middle hitters. Bobby ranks third in the nation with 1.86 blocks per frame. Matt leads the nation with 1.96 blocks per set.
 
IT MUST FITT – Lewis senior Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) ranks seventh in the nation in points per set (4.63).

PERFECT 8 – Lewis enters Thursday's match at Ball State on a eight-match win streak. It is the longest streak for the Flyers since they won 13 in a row in 2013.