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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Thanks to a 14-2 edge in blocks, No. 4 Lewis men's volleyball swept Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association member No. 15 IPFW 25-16, 26-24, 25-17 on Saturday (March 28) evening at the Gates Center on IPFW's campus.

Lewis' dominating performance defensively at the net allowed the Flyers to out-hit the Mastodons .390 to .102. Lewis was led offensively by senior Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North)'s 14 kills on 27 swings for a .481 attack percentage. He added six blocks (one solo).

"Greg had a great night," Lewis head coach Dan Friend said. "He was close to six points a game and was an anchor for us."
 
Junior Scott Fifer (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) recorded 31 assists to guide the Lewis offense.

"We've been working on getting more efficient from a kills standpoint," Friend said. "We've been tweaking a few things on our tempo and Scotty settled into a groove the last two matches."

The Flyers led wire-to-wire in the first and third set, leaving the drama for set two. The Flyers held a 15-13 lead only to see the Mastodons go on a 7-1 run. It forced Lewis to a call a timeout at 20-16 in favor of the Mastodons. IPFW was nearing a set two win after a kill by Bryan Saunders put the Mastodons up 23-18. Then four straight Lewis points, two on kills by senior Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont), made it a 23-22 game. IPFW's Collin Cohen ended the run with a kill, giving IPFW set point at 24-22. The Mastodons' first set point was thwarted by a service error. Then Lewis sophomore Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) went back to serve. He ripped an ace to tie the game at 24. Two more Lewis points followed, giving the set to the Flyers 26-24 in dramatic comeback fashion.

"I thought in games one and three we did a nice job of controlling the net both offensively and defensively," Friend said. "We struggled on first ball contact in serve and receive a bit tonight but our offense and blocking picked us up."

Powell finished with seven kills and nine digs. Schmiegelt had five block assists. Fellow middle hitter junior Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) pitched in four block assists.

Senior Lucas Yanez (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) delivered 12 digs for the Flyers, a season-high for Yanez in a three-set match.

IPFW falls to 16-9 (6-6 MIVA). Lewis improves to 19-2 (10-1 MIVA). The Flyers host No. 2 Loyola on Wednesday (April 1) in a battle for first place in the MIVA. First serve at Neil Carey Arena is set for 7 p.m. Fans looking to purchase tickets in advance may do at this link.