MUNCIE, Ind. – Lewis' sixth ranked men's volleyball team defeated Ball State 3-1 at Worthern Arena on Saturday evening in Muncie, Ind. The Flyers improve to 9-4, 2-1 MIVA while the Cardinals drop to 8-4, 1-1 MIVA.
Lewis dominated the opening set racing out to a 6-1 lead and never allowed Ball State to get closer than three points in the stanza. The Flyers hit .409 in the frame, recorded 8.5 blocks and held the Cardinals to a negative .031 attack percentage. Lewis led by as many as 10 points before settling for the 25-16 win.
The Flyers used an 8-2 run early in the second set to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 12-7 lead.
TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) had two kills in that run while
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) had one apiece. BSU closed to within four but Lewis pulled away down the stretch outscoring the Cardinals 11-7 to win 25-17. Coenen had five kills in the frame while Mitchem and Murray had three kills apiece.
Ball State flipped the script in the third set hitting .367 to the Flyers .290. It led by as many as six in the stanza but Lewis cut it to three late in the set before the Cardinals scored two of the final three points to win 25-21 and extend the match to a fourth set.
The fourth set was tied at four when the Flyers seized control with an 8-3 run. Ball State wouldn't get closer than three points the rest of the match as Lewis pulled away for the 25-20 victory.
The Flyers hit .454 for the contest (60 kills-11 errors-108 total attacks) and were led by Coenen with 21 kills while Mitchem and
Kyle Bugée (Cupertino, Caif./Homestead)added 12 kills apiece.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) finished with 52 assists, Mitchem had eight blocks and Coenen had 10 digs.
The Cardinals finished the match with an attack percentage of .197 (47 kills-22 errors-127 total attempts). Kaleb Jenness led BSU with 15 kills while Blake Reardon added nine kills off the bench. Quinn Isaacson handed out 37 assists and Nick Lavanchy had a match-high 11 digs.
Lewis returns home on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to host Quincy at 7 p.m.
