BRISTOL, Tenn. – The ninth ranked Lewis men's volleyball team swept past King on Friday night in Bristol, Tenn. The Flyers (2-1) hit .522 for the match and were led by
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) with 13 kills while
Connor Pallmann (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) added eight and
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and
TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington) added seven each.
The opening set featured three ties and a lead change. Lewis fell behind early before going on an 8-2 run to take a five point advantage on back-to-back service aces from
Kyle Bugee (Los Altos, CA/Homestead). The lead eventually grew to six on a kill from
Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) before the Tornado (0-1) climbed back to within 19-17 on a kill from Julian Young.
The Flyers stretched the lead back to four on back-to-back kills from
Dalen Instenes (Racine, WI/William Horlick) and Bugee but King wouldn't go away quietly getting kills from Young and Suetonius Harris to cut the lead back to two. Lewis was able to close out the set by scoring three of the final four points.
The Flyers led wire-to-wire in the middle set scoring the first three points and led by as many as eight points on multiple occasions. The Tornado got as close as three at one point but a 7-3 run from Lewis squashed the rally. The Flyers hit .682 in the set recording 16 kills against one error in 22 swings.
King opened the third set intent on extending the match as it raced out to an early four point lead. Lewis took control with an 8-3 run to take a 15-13 advantage on an ace from Bugee. The Tornado got to within a point a couple of times but the Flyers pulled away down the stretch to secure the 25-18 victory.
Lewis finished the match with 42 kills against six errors in 69 total attacks and had 10 service aces to go along with 22 digs.
King finished the contest hitting .338 with 36 kills against 11 errors in 74 chances. Harris led the Tornado with seven kills.
The Flyers conclude their road trip on Saturday taking on Mount Olive (N.C.) at 4 p.m. (CST) in Bristol, Tenn.
