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PHOENIX, Ariz. – No. 3 Lewis men's volleyball swept Grand Canyon 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) on Friday (Feb. 6) evening at GCU's Antelope Gymnasium. The match was the first for both teams in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play this year.

The win is Lewis' seventh consecutive victory. Lewis' 9-1 start is the best over 10 matches to start a season since Lewis head coach Dan Friend took over the program in 2004.
 
In set one, Grand Canyon was within two points as late as 20-18 before the Flyers finished the set on a 5-1 stretch. Senior Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) had a kill for point 22 and an ace for point 25.
 
"Grand Canyon had a good crowd and they came out with that intensity you see in conference matches," Friend said. "It took us a bit to match that intensity."

The second set had 11 ties and played out similarly to the opening set. It was tied at 17 before Lewis pulled away thanks to a three straight points. Senior Eric Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) and sophomore Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) had back-to-back kills. Point 25 was again delivered by an ace by Petty.

Lewis felt behind 7-3 in the third set to give the Antelopes some early life. It was a 17-13 Antelopes advantage when the Flyers woke up and scored the next eight points. Not even a pair of Grand Canyon timeouts could slow down the run. Senior Patrick Lilly (East Northport, N.Y./Commack), who was subbed in to serve, had two aces in the run.

Lewis totaled seven aces and only six service errors in the match. Senior Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) led the Flyers with 12 kills and a .435 hitting percentage. Lewis out-hit Grand Canyon .349 to .202. Junior Scott Fifer (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) totaled 30 assists.

The Flyers held a 10.5 to 5.0 blocks advantage with Lewis' middle hitters doing most of the damage. Junior Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) and Schmiegelt each had four blocks. Walsh added five kills while Schmiegelt totaled six.

"Our middles were great," Friend said. "They had just one (hitting) error between them and helped us block 10.5 balls."

Lewis moves to 9-1 (1-0 MIVA). Grand Canyon falls to 5-3 (0-1 MIVA). The Flyers and Antelopes square off again on Sunday (Feb. 8) in a 2 p.m. PT start on GCU's campus.