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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – For the ninth consecutive season, Lewis men's volleyball is moving on to the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Semifinals. The 12th in the nation Flyers topped Grand Canyon 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17) on Friday (April 15) evening in a MIVA Tournament Quarterfinal match at Neil Carey Arena.

Lewis entered the contest as the No. 4 seed in the MIVA Tournament. The Antelopes were No. 5.

The opening set was all Lewis. The Flyers out-hit the Antelopes .632 to .105 as Lewis had 14 kills in the frame.

Grand Canyon scored five straight points in the second set, including back-to-back aces, to go up 21-16. But the Flyers responded in a big way. Lewis scored three straight, capped by an ace by senior Scott Fifer (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg). Grand Canyon called time but to no avail as four more Lewis points followed. The Flyers were up 23-21 at that point when the Antelopes used their second timeout. Lewis then finished the set with a kill by freshman Julian Moses (Atlanta, Ga./Atlanta International School) and another ace by Fifer. All told it was a 9-0 run to close the set.

"Scott really carried us on his back," Lewis head coach Dan Friend said. "He put a ton of service pressure on and our guys capitalized."

Fifer finished with 40 assists, three blocks, two kills and two aces.

Momentum is a funny thing, and despite the big run, it didn't seem to matter much in the third. Grand Canyon controlled much of the set before Lewis made a run late to get within one at 24-23.

Grand Canyon's third set win proved to be a mere delay in Lewis' victory. The Flyers forced Grand Canyon into eight hitting errors in the fourth set as Lewis earned a lead as large as 11 points.

Moses finished with 16 kills, six blocks and two aces. Freshman Mitch Perinar (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) totaled 14 kills on a .440 attack percentage. Junior Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) added eight kills and seven blocks. He was a big reason Lewis out-blocked Grand Canyon 14.5 to 7.5. Lewis out-hit the visitors .333 to .170.

Grand Canyon ends the season 17-12. Lewis improves to 18-12. The Flyers will find out their opponent in the MIVA Semifinals following the conclusion of the quarterfinals on Sunday.