ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's third ranked men's volleyball team opens Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) play as it travels to Columbus, Ohio for two matches against Ohio State. The Flyers and Buckeyes will meet on Friday (Feb. 5) and Saturday (Feb. 6) at 1 p.m. (ET) both days.
Last Time Out – Lewis extended its season opening winning streak to five with a 3-2 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) last Saturday at the Saint Francis Red Flash Invitational in Loretto, Pa. The Flyers dropped the first two sets against the Highlanders but came back to win the next three. Lewis was down 23-19 in set four but closed the set on an 8-2 run to win 27-25 and force a deciding fifth set.
The Flyers led by as many as three in the final stanza but saw their lead cut to 13-12 after a kill from Julian Meissner.
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) recorded a kill to bring Lewis to match point and then
Landon Krause (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) sealed the victory with a kill from Coenen. Coenen had a match-high 23 kills and also matched his career-high in the win.
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) added 12 kills and
TJ Murray (Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS) finished with a double-double recording 10 kills and 11 total blocks.
NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll – Lewis moved up a spot to third in this week's NVA/AVCA Division I-II Top 15 Coaches Poll. It's the highest ranking the Flyers have achieved in a season since finishing the 2015 season at number two in the coaches poll.
Nationally Known – The Flyers are ranked in the top 10 as a team nationally in five categories. They are second in blocks per set with 3.22, fourth in hitting percentage at.318, sixth in kills per set (12.94) and sixth in opponent hitting percentage (0.192) and are ninth in assists per set with 11.28 per set.
Individually, Mitchem is second in the country with a .512 hitting percentage and
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) is fourth in assists per set with 10.22. Murray and Mitchem are fifth and eighth respectively in blocks per set with 1.53 and 1.33.
Movin' On Up – Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) has moved into third place in the rally scoring era in school history with his 1,363 kills and is five behind Geoff Powell for second place. Coenen's 1,363 kills also ranks sixth most in school history overall. Coenen's 133 service aces ranks fourth overall in school history while his 542 digs are 13th in school history.
About Ohio State – The Buckeyes enter this weekend with a record of 1-3 after dropping a pair of matches at No. 11 Penn State last weekend. OSU was beaten in straight sets in both matches.
Jacob Pasteur leads the Buckeyes with 4.33 kills per set while Jack Stevens is averaging 2.50 per set and Martin Lallemand is at 2.44 kills per set. Luke Lentin is the team's primary setter distributing 7.88 assists per set while on the defensive side of the ball Samuel Clark leads the way on the front line with 1.22 blocks per set while Luke Meidel leads the way on the back line with 1.17 digs per set.
As a team, OSU is averaging 10.75 kills per set and is hitting .208 while its opponents are hitting .276 and averaging 9.42 kills per set.
How To Watch – Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed on the Big Ten Plus Digital Network and requires a subscription to watch the games. Links to the video stream as well as live stats can be found at the top of this article.
Up Next – Lewis returns home next Friday (Feb. 12) hosting Ball State at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena. Next Friday's match begins a five-match homestand for the Flyers.
