ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fifth ranked men's volleyball team opened its 2021 season with a 3-1 (25-9, 25-16, 30-32, 25-16) win over Campbellsville (Ky.) on Wednesday evening at Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers (1-0) dominated the opening set as it led by as many as 16 points in the frame. They hit .455 in the frame while recording seven service aces and registered five blocks. Lewis never trailed in the stanza as it opened the match on a 9-2 run and never looked back.

The Flyers got out to an early lead in the second stanza but the Tigers (2-2), ranked second in the NAIA, fought back to within 13-12 after an attack error from Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). Lewis responded with an 8-2 run to extend its lead back to seven points on its way to a 25-16 victory.

The third frame was a back-and-forth affair with 19 ties and nine lead changes. Campbellsville led by as many as three at the midway point of the stanza but the Flyers came back to take a 24-23 lead on a kill from Keaton Long (Plano, Texas/Plano).

Lewis had four chances to close out the match while the Tigers had three opportunities to extend the match but neither was able too until Long's attack attempt went long to give Campbellsville the 32-30 set win.

The Flyers set the tone early in the fourth set scoring six of the first seven points and didn't let the Tigers get closer than four points the rest of the match pulling away for the 25-16 set win.

Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) finished with a match-high 13 kills while Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) added 11 kills, 10 total blocks and three service aces. Long also finished the match with 11 kills. Kauling dished out 36 assists and Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) finished with nine digs.

As a team, Lewis hit .398 for the match recording 46 kills against 11 errors in 88 attempts. The Flyers recorded 12 aces in the match and finished with 15 total blocks.

Ramon Matos led Campbellsville with 10 kills, Ryan Smith handed out 33 assists and Jay Montalvo had a match-high 11 digs. The Tigers were held to a .150 attack percentage with 41 kills against 26 errors in 100 chances.

Lewis continues its season opening three-match homestand on Friday as it welcomes Queens (N.C.) to Neil Carey Arena for a 7 p.m. match.