FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Lewis' fifth ranked men's volleyball team recorded a season-high 15.5 blocks in its 3-0 win over No. 14 Purdue Fort Wayne at Arnie Ball Court in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Thursday. The Flyers improve to 12-4, 5-1 MIVA while the Mastodons drop to 8-5, 3-3 MIVA.
Lewis never trailed in the opening set as it scored the first five points to take the early lead. The 'Dons got to within 13-9 but Lewis pulled away with an 11-6 run to take a commanding 24-15 lead on a block by
TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) and
Kyle Bugée (Cupertino, CA, Homestead). PFW fought off two set points but a service error by Pelegrin Vargas gave the Flyers the opening 25-16.
The Mastodons led 10-7 in the second set but an 8-3 run by Lewis gave the Flyers a 15-13 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne scored back-to-back points after the media timeout to even the set, but the Flyers seized control thanks to a 7-1 run. Mitchem had two kills in the run while Bugée added one and
Dalen Instenes (Racine, WI/William Horlick) added an ace. Instenes and Mitchem also teamed up to block Vargas during that run.
The 'Dons cut the lead to 24-20 after a kill from Jon Diedrich but Lewis would win the set 25-20 when Murray,
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) teamed up to stuff Wilmer Hernandez.
Lewis broke a 6-all tie in set three thanks to a 7-1 run. Bugée had two kills and two assisted blocks in the set deciding run while Instenes added an ace and an assisted block while Mitchem added two assisted blocks.
The lead grew to as many as nine in the final set but a late run by PFW cut the lead to 22-16 after a service error. The Mastodons wouldn't get any closer than that as the Flyers scored three of the final four points to complete the sweep with a 25-17 victory.
Lewis hit .348 in the contest recording 33 kills against nine errors in 69 swings. Defensively, the Flyers recorded 29 assisted blocks and a solo block in the contest. Coenen led the Flyers with 10 kills while Mitchem added nine kills and Bugée finished with seven kills. Kauling handed out 23 assists, Instenes and
Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie) had eight digs and Mitchem finished with seven total blocks.
Lewis held Purdue Fort Wayne to a .012 attack percentage (25 kills / 24 errors / 82 chances). Vargas had 10 kills to lead the Mastodons. Santos Frederico recorded 19 assists while Jon Diedrich finished with seven digs.
The Flyers are back at home on Saturday hosting rival Loyola at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena. Saturday's match will be the annual White Out contest.
