ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's volleyball team heads to Virginia for a pair of matches in George Mason's Uvaldo Acosta Invitational this Friday and Saturday. The Flyers will take on Barton at 4 p.m. (CST) on Friday and then will face No. 12 George Mason at 6 p.m. (CST) on Saturday evening.

Last Time Out – Lewis picked up a pair of straight set victories over Urbana and Charleston (W.V.) last weekend at Neil Carey Arena. With the victories the Flyers improve to 5-3 on the season and moved up a spot to sixth in this week's AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll. Jackson Hickman (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) led Lewis with seven kills in the win over the Blue Knights while Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) finished with 10 kills, four blocks and an ace in the win over the Golden Eagles on Saturday.

Scouting Barton – The Bulldogs, a 2019 NCAA Tournament participant, began their 2020 season last week with three victories.  Barton opened its season with a five-set win over Queens last Wednesday and then defeated Emmanuel (Ga.) and Erskine in straight sets on Friday and Saturday. Angelos Mandilaris led the Bulldogs with 57 kills in 11 sets played for an average of 5.18 per set. Oscar Fiorentino averaged over nine assists per set and Edwin Montaruli led the way on the back line averaging 3.10 digs per set.

Series vs. Barton – Friday's contest marks the second meeting all-time between the Flyers and Bulldogs. Lewis won the first meeting 3-0 in Romeoville on Jan. 30, 2015.

Scouting George Mason – The Patriots head into Friday's match against Loyola with a record of 3-3. George Mason has already played four ranked teams this season and has gone 2-2 in those contests. The Patriots split their two matches last weekend defeating Ball State 3-2 and then fell to No. 14 Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1. Richie Hoff led the team with 31 kills in the two matches last weekend.

Series vs. George Mason – Saturday's contest will be the 24th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Patriots with Lewis holding a 19-4 advantage and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings.

Up Next – The Flyers return home next Friday as they open conference play hosting McKendree at 7 p.m.