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MUNCIE, Ind. – No. 14 Lewis men's volleyball rallied from an 0-2 deficit on Thursday (Feb. 18) but couldn't complete the comeback as they fell 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 15-12) at first place No. 12 Ball State in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match.

Lewis held a 21-20 lead in the opening fame only to see the Cardinals close the set on a 5-2 run. In the second, Lewis scored four straight points to tie the score at 18 but Ball State scored two straight points on three occasions down the stretch of the set to finish the frame.

"We had some opportunities in sets one and two and let them slip through our fingers," Lewis head coach Dan Friend said. "Ball State likes to slow the game down and play their style of volleyball. They were affective at that even though we out-stated them."

After the intermission, freshman setter Matt Yoshimoto (Camarillo, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo) and senior outside hitter Patrick Lilly (East Northport, N.Y./Commack) started the third set. The moves paid immediate dividends as the Flyers took a quick 7-3 lead on their way to a third set victory. The fourth was more of the same as Lewis jumped out to a 13-4 lead and never looked back.

In the fifth, a block by Lilly and senior Bobby Walsh (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) gave the Flyers their third lead of the frame at 11-10. The Flyers held their final lead at 12-11, when the Cardinals responded with four straight points to win the match. A Lewis timeout in the run couldn't halt Ball State's momentum. Mitch Weiler had kills for points 14 and 15 for the Cardinals.

"Matt and Pat came in and did some nice things," Friend said. "We were looking for something different and looking for a spark. But in the fifth we made some errors on our side after the turn at 8-7."

Yoshimoto finished with 36 assists. Lilly had 14 kills and nine digs. Junior Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) hit .588 with 11 kills and two aces. Junior Trevor Weiskircher (Loves Park, Ill./Boylan Catholic) had a match-high 16 kills with 12 digs for the Flyers.

Lewis out-hit Ball State .247 to .169. The Flyers held a 62-53 advantage in digs with freshman Jake Walenga (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) recording a career-high 16 digs.

The Flyers fall to 9-6 (4-3 MIVA). Ball State improves to 11-3 (5-0 MIVA). The Cardinals are the only team undefeated in conference play in the league. Lewis returns to the court on Friday (Feb. 19) evening at IPFW in a 6 p.m. CT first serve.