ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fifth ranked men's volleyball team wrapped up its five-match homestand with a sweep of Ball State on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 10-2, 5-2 MIVA while the Cardinals drop to 7-4, 4-3 MIVA.

The two sides went back-and-forth for the first 18 points until Lewis seized control of the set with a 10-2 run to take a 19-11 lead on back-to-back kills from Kyle Bugee (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead). Ball State cut the Flyer lead to 19-13 but wouldn't get any closer as Lewis scored the final six points to win the opening set 25-13. The Flyers hit .560 in the stanza while holding the Cardinals to a .032 attack percentage.

Lewis opened the middle frame scoring the first four points and were still up 14-9 nearly halfway through the set. Ball State evened the set at 15 thanks to a 6-1 run behind kills from Ryan Dorgan, Brandon Sheperd and Felix Egharevba and three attack errors by the Flyers.

Lewis never allowed them to take the lead though as it scored seven of the next nine points to regain its five-point cushion and would go on to take the set 25-19 after a service error from Kaleb Jenness.

There were nine ties and three lead changes in set three before the Flyers took command with a 9-4 run to build an 18-13 lead when TJ Murray (Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS) and Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) teamed up to block Dorgan at the net.

The Cardinals cut the deficit to four on three different occasions, but Lewis never allowed them to get closer than that as it closed out match scoring three of the final four points to win 25-19.

The Flyers finished the contest hitting .407 recording 43 kills against 10 errors in 81 chances. Bugee finished with a match-high 15 kills while Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) added 10 kills and Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) finished with nine kills. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) averaged 12.33 assists per set in the match and had two aces while Carlos Jimenez (Miami Beach, Fla./FLVS) had a match-high 16 digs and was 18-for-18 reception attempts. Mitchem also had four blocks in the contest.

Lewis' defense held Ball State to a .152 hitting percentage with 31 kills against 17 errors in 92 swings. Jenness led the Cardinal attack with eight kills while Dorgan added seven kills. Quinn Isaacson finished with 26 assists and Brandon Shepherd had six digs.

The Flyers return to the court on Friday (March 12) as they travel to Lebanon, Ill., for a rematch against seventh ranked McKendree at 7 p.m. The Bearcats defeated Lewis 3-1 at Neil Carey Arena on Feb. 26.