ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The seventh ranked Lewis men's volleyball team dropped a top 10 match to fourth ranked UC Irvine 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 17-25, 19-25) on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill.

The Flyers (1-1) were led by Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington) with 11 kills each while Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) added eight kills and Julian Moses (Atlanta, GA/Atlanta International School) finished with five kills. Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) dished out 42 assists and Michael Simmons (Aurora, IL/Waubonsie Valley) had 13 digs. Murray also had five total blocks while Coenen and Mitchem had four blocks each.

Lewis hit .104 (46 kills-33 errors-125 attacks) for the match, while the Anteaters (2-0) hit .269 (45-16-108). UCI finished with 13.5 total team blocks while the Flyers had 11.5 team blocks.

The Flyers scored the first three points of the match but the Anteaters responded with a 7-1 run to take a three point lead. Lewis cut the lead to 9-8 on a kill from Mitchem but UCI began to pull away with a 9-5 run to build a five-point lead.

The Flyers got as close as four but the Anteaters were able to close out the set by scoring six of the final 10 points.

Lewis used a 6-3 run midway through the second set to take a 16-13 lead on a kill from Moses. UC Irvine came back to even things at 16 after a service ace from Joel Schneidmiller. The Flyers responded with a 6-2 run to grab a four point lead and would go onto win the set 25-20.

The Anteater defense held the Lewis attack to a negative hitting percentage in the third set recording 6.5 total blocks and forced the Flyers into 12 errors. UCI took control midway through the frame with a 6-2 run to build an 18-12 lead. Lewis wouldn't get closer than five points the rest of the set.

The Flyers led 9-7 in set four but were unable to overcome 6-2 run which allowed the Anteaters to take a 13-11 lead. Lewis cut the lead to one on multiple occasions but were unable to get over the hump as UCI closed out the match scoring seven of the final 10 points.

The Flyers return to action next weekend as they travel to Bristol, Tenn., for a pair of matches against King (Tenn.) and Mount Olive.