SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The ninth ranked Lewis men's volleyball team fell to 10th ranked UC Santa Barbara in five sets on Friday evening at Robertson Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif. Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) and TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) had 11 kills each to pace the Flyers (5-3) while Dalen Instenes (Racine, WI/William Horlick) added 10.

Lewis stormed out of the gates scoring seven of the first nine points in the match to take a five point lead. The Gauchos (6-3) cut the Flyer lead to two after an ace from Ryan Wilcox. Lewis answered the UCSB run with an 8-3 run to extend its lead to seven points. The Gauchos battled back getting to within two three different times but the Flyers were able to close out the set scoring six of the last eight points to win the opener 25-19.

Lewis had an attack percentage of .600 (12-0-20) in the frame while holding UCSB to .103 hitting percentage (10-7-29).

The Gauchos turned the tables in set two hitting .412 while holding the Flyer attack to .053 attack percentage (7-6-19). UCSB used a 9-1 run midway through the frame to pull away as its lead grew to as many as 11 in the set before winning 25-15.

The swing set featured eight ties and three lead changes. The Gauchos were the first to 20 in the frame and held a 22-20 advantage after an error by Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin). Lewis scored two of the next three points to cut the deficit to 23-22 but were unable to complete the comeback as UCSB scored the final two points of the set to win 25-22.

The Flyers led by as many as four points in the fourth set but the Gauchos were able to trim the deficit to 19-18 on a kill from Wilcox. Lewis extended its lead to 22-19 on a kill from Instenes and would go onto win 25-22 to force a fifth and deciding set.

The Flyers trailed by three early in the final set before coming back to take a 9-8 lead on a kill from Jake Walenga (Frankfort, IL/Lincoln-Way North). UCSB regained the lead with three straight points including back-to-back blocks on Mitchem. Lewis got back to within 11-10 on another kill from Walenga but the Gauchos scored three of the next four points to reach match point at 14-11.

The Flyers fought off the first two match points but were unable to extend the match as Brandon Hicks knocked down a kill to end the match 15-13.

Lewis finished the match hitting .340 (50-16-100) with 47 assists, 28 digs and 7.5 total blocks. Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) handed out 45 assists and Michael Simmons (Aurora, IL/Waubonsie Valley) finished with nine digs.

Corey Chavers finished with a match-high 19 kills while Wilcox added 12 and Haotian Xia had 11. Randy DeWeese had 49 assists and Hayden Boehle had a match-high 10 digs. UCSB hit .342 (58-18-117) for the match and had eight total blocks.

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday night as they take on 11th ranked Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. (CST).