FORT WAYNE, Ind. – In a matchup between the two hottest teams in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association it was the No. 7 Lewis men's volleyball who prevailed in five sets over No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday night in Fort Wayne, Ind. With the victory the Flyers improve to 18-4 overall, 9-0 in MIVA and extend their winning streak to 11 while the Mastodons fall to 13-8, 5-3 MIVA and had their five-match winning streak snapped.
Lewis was held to its second lowest hitting percentage of the season hitting just .165 in the contest (48 kills-26 errors-133 total attacks).
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) was one of two Flyers to reach double figures in kills with 15 while
TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) added 10.
Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) recorded a double-double with 38 assists and 11 digs.
Lewis trailed by as many as four points twice in the opening set but were able to use a 10-4 run to erase the deficit and took a 22-20 lead on a service error by Tony Price. Pelegrin Vargas brought PFW back to within one with a kill to make it 22-21. The Flyers still led by one after the two sides exchanged service errors. Kyle Bugée set up set point for Lewis with a kill to make it 24-22. Vargas responded with a kill to bring the Mastodons to within 24-23 but he committed a service error on the next serve to give the Flyers the 25-23 victory.
Lewis used a 13-7 run midway through the second set to erase a 9-all tie to take a six point lead after an attack error by Tomas Gago. Purdue Fort Wayne closed the margin to 23-19 on back-to-back kills from Price and Richie Diedrich. The Flyers were able to close it out with back-to-back points on a service error and then Bugée and
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) teamed up to block Diedrich to win the set 25-19.
The Mastodons dominated the third set hitting .433 (16-3-30) and never trailed in the stanza on its way to the 25-15 victory. Lewis' offense struggled in the set being held to a negative .067 attack percentage.
The fourth stanza went back-and-forth until PFW took control late with four straight points to grab a 21-18 lead after an attack error from
Julian Moses (Atlanta, GA/Atlanta International School). The Flyers cut the deficit to one on three different occasions but were unable to complete the comeback as Vargas knocked home a kill to end the set 25-23 and even the match at two sets apiece.
The 'Dons led by as many as two near the midway point of the fifth set but Lewis responded with a 5-2 run to grab a 10-9 lead after a service error from Max Hansen. Purdue Fort Wayne scored the next two points to regain the lead at 11-10. Coenen and Bugée wouldn't let the Flyers lose combining to score five of the final six points of the match to pull out the 15-12 win. Coenen had a kill and two aces in the match deciding run while Bugée had two kills.
The Mastodons finished the match with an attack percentage of .237 (57 kills-24 errors-139 total attacks) and were led by Vargas with a match-high 22 kills while Price added 12 kills and Alex Dickmann finished with 11 kills of the bench. Frederico Santos had 29 assists and Kolbie Knorr had a match-high 14 digs.
Lewis plays its final road match of the regular season on Saturday traveling to Muncie, Ind., to take on No. 15 Ball State at 1 p.m. (CDT).
