COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lewis University's third ranked men's volleyball team dropped their Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) opener at Ohio State, 3-1 on Friday afternoon at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. The Flyers fall to 5-1, 0-1 MIVA while the Buckeyes improve to 2-3, 1-0 MIVA.

The opening set went back and forth with 19 ties and nine lead changes. OSU held a 23-22 but Lewis scored back-to-back points off a service error and a block of Jacob Pasteur by TJ Murray (Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS) and Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) to get to set point at 24-23.

The Flyers were unable to close out the set as the Buckeyes scored four of the final five points to take the opener 27-25.

Lewis led 9-7 in the second set but couldn't overcome a 9-0 run from OSU as it took a 16-9 lead on a kill from Pasteur. The Flyers cut the deficit to 18-13 after an ace from Keaton Long (Plano, Texas/Plano) but wouldn't get any closer the rest of the frame as the Buckeyes scored seven of the final 10 points to win 25-16.

Lewis trailed 20-19 in the third set before rattling off four points in a row to take a 23-20 lead on a kill from Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS). Mitchem added another kill to give the Flyers three set points at 24-21 but Ohio State was able to fight off one of those on a kill from Austin Gerwig but not a second as Coenen knocked home a kill to give Lewis the 25-22 set win to extend the match.

The Flyers trailed by as many as four points in the fourth stanza before running off four straight to things at 22 on back-to-back kills from Coenen. The Buckeyes regained the lead at 23-22 on a kill from Jack Stevens but Lewis came right back to tie it up on another kill from Coenen. Samuel Clark gave the Buckeyes a 24-23 lead to set up match point. Coenen tried to extend the match but his attack attempt missed to give OSU the set 25-23.

Lewis hit .225 for the match recording 45 kills against 20 errors in 111 total attempts. Coenen was tied for the match-high with 20 kills while Mitchem finished with 12 kills and nine total blocks. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 43 assists and Coenen finished with seven digs.

The Buckeyes ended the match with a .221 hitting percentage (48 kills against 23 errors in 113 chances) and were led by Pasteur with 20 kills while Stevens and Martin Lallemand had eight kills apiece. Michael Wright distributed 39 assists and had a match-high eight digs.

The two teams will play again on Saturday at the Covelli Center with first serve scheduled for 12 p.m. (CT).