ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fifth ranked men's volleyball team travels to Fort Wayne, Ind., on Thursday to take on Purdue Fort Wayne at 6:30 p.m. (CST) and then returns home on Saturday to face Loyola-Chicago at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.
Last Time Out – The Flyers overcame a slow start to defeat Lindenwood in a first battle in the MIVA standings last Saturday. Lewis trailed 12-6 in the opening set but then outscored the Lions 19-7 the rest of the frame to take the opener 25-19. The Flyers dominated the second set winning 25-17 and then pulled away late in set three for a 25-21 victory.
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) led Lewis with 12 kills in the contest while
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) added 10 kills.
Who's Hot – Mitchem hit .735 with 25 kills against zero errors in 34 attempts last week in the wins over Quincy and Lindenwood. He averaged 4.17 kills per set and his 15 kills against the Hawks matched his career-high. Mitchem leads the MIVA in hitting percentage and is third nationally in the category at .516 percent. He was named the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week and the AVCA Sports/Imports National Player of the Week on Tuesday.
League Leaders – The Flyers have five players ranked in the top 10 eight MIVA categories. Kyle Bugée leads the conference in aces per set with 0.633 per set while Coenen is fifth at 0.380 per set and
Dalen Instenes (Racine, WI/William Horlick) is ninth at 0.333 per set.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) is second in the conference at 10.19 assists per set. Coenen is second in points per set (4.51), third in kills per set (3.88), fifth in attacks per set (8.36) and 10th in digs per set (1.70). Mitchem leads the league in hitting percentage, is fifth in blocks per set and ninth in points per set.
About Purdue Fort Wayne – The Mastodons are 8-4 overall, 3-2 in MIVA play and ranked No. 14 in this week's NVA/AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. PFW snapped a two-game skid with back-to-back four set wins over Ball State and Ohio State last weekend. The 'Dons are led offensively by Pelegrin Vargas with 4.63 kills per set while John Diedrichis averaging 3.13 kills per set.
Series vs. Purdue Fort Wayne – Thursday's contest marks the 63rd meeting all-time between Lewis and Purdue Fort Wayne with the Flyers holding a 38-24 advantage in the series and winners of 12 straight. Last season, Lewis won in straights at Neil Carey Arena and defeated the Mastodons in five sets in Fort Wayne.
About Loyola-Chicago – The Ramblers are 5-10 overall and 2-3 in MIVA play heading into Thursday's contest against McKendree. LUC split its two matches last weekend defeating Ohio State in four sets and lost to Ball State in five sets. Cole Schlothauer, Kyle Piekarski and Devin Joslyn lead the Rambler attack averaging 3.75, 2.71 and 2.50 kills per set respectively. Ian Cowen is the team's primary setter distributing 9.79 assists per set while Schlothauer leads the way on the back line averaging 1.62 digs per set.
Series vs. Loyola-Chicago – Saturday's match marks the 62nd meeting all-time between Lewis and Loyola with the Ramblers holding a 35-26 advantage in the series. However, the Flyers has won three straight in the series and six of the last eight overall. Lewis won both regular season matches in four sets in 2019 and then defeated LUC 3-0 in the MIVA Championship match to earn the league's automatic bid. A win on Saturday would match the Flyers longest winning streak in the series.
Up Next – Lewis will take a break from MIVA play as it heads to Palo Alto, Calif., next weekend for two matches against No. 13 Stanford.
