ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The 11
th ranked Lewis Flyer men's volleyball team begins a nine match homestand starting with second ranked Long Beach State at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena on Friday evening. The homestand continues against George Mason on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Flyers seek their first win of the season after dropping a pair of matches last weekend in Utah to UC-Irvine 3-0 last Friday and then fell to third ranked BYU 3-1 on Saturday in Provo.
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) led the offensive attack recording 24 kills last weekend with 15 of those coming against the Anteaters.
Kyle Bugee (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) led the way with 11 kills against the Cougars on Saturday.
Ryan Van Loo (Burbank, CA/John Burroughs) averaged 6.33 assists per set while Bugee led the way defensively with eight digs.
This weekend will be Youth Club weekend for both matches and on Friday evening magnetic schedules will be given away.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE: Long Beach enters Friday's contest with a record of 4-0 after going 3-0 last weekend at the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational. The Beach opened its season with a straight sets win at home against McKendree then defeated Princeton in straight sets and NJIT in four sets. On Saturday, the Beach downed Saint Francis (Pa.) in straight sets.
TJ Delfaco and Josh Tuaniga led the Long Beach offense last week as Delfaco averaged 3.31 kills per set and Tuaniga averaged 10.42 assists per set. Both players were named to the all-tournament at the Asics Invitational. Freshman middle blocker Simon Anderson averaged 2.00 kills per set and was named the Big West Conference's Freshman of the Week.
Along the back row Delfaco averaged 1.85 digs per set while Kyle Ensing finished the week with 17 digs.
ABOUT GEORGE MASON: The Patriots head into Friday's match at seventh ranked Loyola with a record of 1-2. They opened their season with a straight sets win over Limestone College last Friday then lost back-to-back matches against Grand Canyon University. The Lopes beat George Mason in five sets last Saturday and then won in straight sets on Sunday.
The Patriots have a balanced offensive attack with seven players in double figures led by Christian Malias with 23. Luis Velez is the primary setter distributing 7.33 assists per set while on the back row Kyle Barnes leads the way with four digs.
