ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lewis University's fifth ranked men's volleyball matched its season-high with its fifth straight win defeating Lindenwood in straight sets on Sunday afternoon at Robert F. Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Flyers improve to 13-2, 8-2 MIVA while the Lions drop to 4-9, 1-9 MIVA.
Lewis hit .374 in the match recording 47 kills against 13 errors in 91 total attacks and were led by
Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) with 19 kills while
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) finished with 15 kills.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) handed out 39 assists and Coenen and
Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) were tied with a match-high seven digs.
The opening set went back-and-forth and saw Lindenwood take a 23-22 lead on a kill from Diego Negron. Lewis responded scoring the final three points of the set as Coenen evened things at 23 with a kill and then a ball handling error on Brian Schwob gave the Flyers a 24-23 lead and chance to close out the set.
Kyle Bugee (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead) knocked home down a kill to give Lewis the 25-23 set win.
The Flyers trailed by four early in set but went ahead thanks to an 8-2 run to grab a 10-8 lead and wouldn't relinquish the lead. The advantage grew to as many as eight in the frame as Lewis took the set 25-17 and hit .406 in the set compared to .032 for the Lions.
The Flyers fell behind again early in set three but regrouped and took a 22-19 lead when Bugee and Mitchem teamed up to block AJ Lewis. Lewis still led 24-21 and had three match points but Lindenwood rallied scoring four straight points to take a 25-24 lead on a kill by Cal Werths.
The two sides traded the next nine points and were tied at 29 after a kill from Lewis. A service error by Alex Pappas gave the Flyers their seventh match point and this time they were able to capitalize as Coenen knocked one down to win it 31-29.
Lewis returns home for its final two home matches of the regular season next weekend hosting Quincy in a two-game series beginning Friday night at 7 p.m. The Flyers will honor their senior classes from 2020 and 2021 next weekend as they'll honor their 10 seniors. Five of them will be honored on Friday while the other five will be honored on Saturday.
