ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fourth ranked and top seeded men's volleyball team began its quest for second straight MIVA Tournament championship with a sweep of eighth seeded Quincy on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 18-2 on the season and advance to next Saturday's MIVA semifinal while Quincy ends its season with a record of 5-13.

Lewis led for virtually the entire first set as it built an early five-point cushion and never looked back. Quincy got as close as 23-20 late in the set after an attack error by Kyle Bugee (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead) but Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) closed it out with a kill and an ace to give the opening set to the Flyers 25-20.

The middle stanza saw 10 ties and five lead changes and went back-and-forth for a majority of the frame. Lewis led by as many as five but a late run by the Hawks gave them a 20-19 lead after an error by Bugee. The Flyers responded closing the set on a 6-1 run to win 25-21 when Michael Ladner hit an attack out of bounds.

Lewis raced out to an early lead to open set three, but Quincy came back to tie the frame at five on a kill by Zach Reider. The Flyers seized control with an 8-1 run to build a seven-point advantage and wouldn't let the Hawks get closer than five points the rest of the set as they would go onto win the stanza 25-15 to complete the sweep.

Lewis hit .392 for the match recording 39 kills against 10 errors in 74 swings. Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) led the Flyers with 13 kills while Mitchem finished with 12 kills and added six blocks. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 33 assists and Carlos Jimenez (Miami Beach, Fla./FLVS) finished with 11 digs.

Quincy finished the match hitting .115 recording 28 kills against 19 errors in 78 chances. Omari Wheeler led the Hawks with eight kills while Ladner finished with six kills. Matt Friddle had 26 assists and Noam Hannoun finished with nine digs.

Lewis will play fourth seeded Ball State in the semifinal round of the MIVA Tournament next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.