IRVINE, Calif. – Lewis University's sixth ranked men's volleyball team defeated eighth ranked UC Irvine 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 22-20) in a thriller on Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. The Flyers improve to 2-1 while the Anteaters drop to 1-1.

"Tonight's win was a total team effort," Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. "The guys fought hard all night and found a way to gut out points when it mattered at the end.

"Ryan Van Loo (Burbank, CA/John Burroughs) gave us a lift off the bench," Friend added.

Lewis used a 7-1 run midway through the opening set to break a 12-all tie and would go onto win the frame 25-18. Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) led the way with five kills in the stanza while TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) added four.

The Flyers raced out to a 6-0 lead in the second set but UCI came back to even things at 10 on an attack error by Kyle Bugée (Cupertino, CA,/Homestead). The two sides went back and forth before the Anteaters ran off four straight points to take a 22-19 lead. Lewis got it back to two on a couple of occasions but were unable to get any closer as UCI closed out the set with a service ace from JB Kam to even the match at a set apiece.

The Anteaters seized control of set three thanks to a 6-2 run which broke an 11-all tie. The Flyers cut the deficit to 20-19 but UCI closed out the set scoring four of the final five points to win 25-20 to take the 2-1 lead.

Lewis dominated the fourth set hitting a blistering .600 (17 kills-2 errors-25 attempts). The stanza was tied at 13 when the Flyers took control with an 8-1 run to build a 21-14 cushion. The Anteaters cut Lewis' lead to 23-19 but the Flyers were able to even the match at two sets apiece by scoring two of the final three points.

The final set featured 14 ties and three lead changes. UC Irvine led for a majority of the set and had four chances to close the match out but each time Lewis got a side out to extend the match. Coenen gave the Flyers the first of their three chances to win the match but the Anteaters returned the favor siding out Lewis' first two attempts.

UCI led 20-19 before the Flyers came up with three straight points to win the match. Coenen recorded a kill to even things at 20 and then Mitchem and Bugée teamed up to block Alexandre Nsakanda to give Lewis a 21-20 lead. Mitchem then ended the match hitting one through the block for the final point.

The Flyers finished the match with a hitting percentage of .283 (65 kills-26 errors-138 attempts). Coenen led three Lewis players in double figures with a season-high 19 kills. Bugée added 15 and Murray finished with 12. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and Van Loo had 29 and 27 assists respectively. Coenen also added a match-high 11 digs in the win.

The Anteaters had an attack percentage of .252 (53 kills-22 errors-123 attempts). Joel Schneidmiller had a match-high 22 kills and was joined in double figures by Nsakanda with 16 kills. Patrick Vorenkamp had 47 assists while Kam finished with 10 digs.

The Flyers head down to San Diego on Saturday to take on the Tritons of UC San Diego at 9 p.m. (CST). The Tritons defeated No. 11 Loyola-Chicago 3-2 on Thursday evening.