ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 10th ranked Lewis Flyer men's volleyball team closed out the regular season with a sweep at Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon in St. Charles, Mo. The Flyers (18-10, 9-5 MIVA) hit .422 and had 46 kills in the match.
Lewis hit .469 and recorded 18 kills to win the opening set 26-24. The Flyers led by as many as six points in the frame but the Lions (9-15, 3-11 MIVA) answered with an 8-2 run to even the set at 23.
Mitch Perinar (Channahon, IL/Minooka) gave Lewis a set point at 24-23 with a kill but Connor Hipelius kept the frame alive with his fifth kill to even things at 24.
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) gave the Flyers a 25-24 lead with a kill then Perinar ended it with his sixth kill of the set.
Lewis trailed 14-12 midway through the second set but ended the set on a 13-8 run to win 25-22 to take the 2-0 lead in the match. The Flyers scored the final three points of the set to break a 22-22 tie. Lewis led 23-22 when Mitchem blocked Nick Stevenson to get to set point. Mitchem and
Julian Moses (Atlanta, GA/Atlanta International School) then teamed up to block Stevenson to end the frame. Coenen and Perinar teamed up for eight of the team's 14 kills in the set.
The Flyers raced out to an early lead in the final set but Lindenwood rallied to take a 15-14 lead midway through the stanza. Lewis ended the match strong scoring 13 of the final 15 points to pull away for the 25-17 win. The Flyers hit .429 in the finale recording 14 kills against two errors in 28 chances. Coenen and Perinar teamed up for nine of those kills. Lewis also had nine total blocks in the frame.
Coenen finished with a match-high 17 kills while Perinar added 12. Moses and
TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington) added six kills each and Mitchem finished with five kills and six blocks.
Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) dished out 37 assists and
Michael Simmons (Aurora, IL/Waubonsie Valley) finished with 11 digs.
After allowing the Lions to hit .312 in the opening frame the Lewis defense held them to a .153 hitting percentage in the final two sets. Lindenwood hit .202 for the contest and recorded 41 kills. Hipelius led Lindenwood with 12 kills. Adam Brewster handed out 32 assists while Ryan Vorderer finished with 11 digs.
The Flyers, seeded fourth, will take on Fort Wayne, seeded fifth, in the opening round of the MIVA Tournament next Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.
