LEBANON, Ill. – The 10th ranked Lewis Flyer men's volleyball team started fast but fell in four sets to the McKendree Bearcats on Thursday evening in Lebanon, Ill. The Flyers (16-9, 7-4 GLVC) hit .266 and had 16.5 blocks for the match. Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) led Lewis with 19 kills.

The Flyers trailed 10-6 in the opening set before taking control with a 15-4 run to grab a 21-14 lead after a block by Coenen and TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington). The Bearcats (11-11, 6-5 MIVA) responded scoring six of the next eight points to cut the lead to 23-20 after a kill by Brendan Schmidt. Lewis closed out the set with kills from Kyle Bugee (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) and Coenen to win 25-21.

The Flyers led by four midway through the second set but McKendree fought back with a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 17-16 after a kill by Wyatt Dimke. Lewis countered the run with one of its own scoring four of the next six points to extend the lead back to three. The Bearcats came back again to tie the set at 22 but the Flyers got back-to-back points to get to set point first.

McKendree refused to go away getting a kill from Nolan Rueter and a block from Dimke and Jared Wilcox to tie the set at 24. The two sides kept going back and forth with Lewis having four more set points and the Bearcats had eight set points before scoring the final two points to win the set 38-36 and even the match at a set apiece.

The Flyers led by two early in the third set but McKendree responded with a 7-3 run to take the lead on a kill from Rueter. Lewis fought back to take a 20-18 lead after a kill from Bugee but were unable to close out the set as the Bearcats ended the frame on a 7-3 run to win 25-23.

The Flyers led by three early in the fourth set but McKendree answered with a 15-7 run to take a 19-14 advantage. Lewis cut the deficit to 19-17 after three straight kills from Murray but the Bearcats pushed its lead back to three after a kill from Wilcox. The Flyers responded with three straight points to even the set at 23 after a kill from Coenen but McKendree ended the match on back-to-back kills from Wilcox to win 25-23.

Coenen paced the attack and was joined in double figures by Mitch Perinar (Channahon, IL/Minooka) and Bugee with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) handed out 51 assists. Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) had a match-high seven blocks while Murray and Bugee had six blocks each. Bugee also had 10 digs.

The Bearcats finished the match hitting .248 but had 66 kills and 53 digs. Wilcox finished with a match-high 20 kills while Rueter added 18 and Schmidt added 10. Pasquale Fiduccia had 56 assists and Rueter had a match-high 13 digs.

Lewis continues its four-match road trip on Saturday traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on ninth ranked Ohio State at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Buckeyes knocked off sixth ranked Loyola Chicago in four sets on Thursday evening.