ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's ninth ranked men's volleyball team extended its home winning streak to 10 with a sweep of Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 3-0 while the Red Flash drop to 0-3.
Lewis led by as many as seven midway through the opening stanza but Saint Francis responded with four straight points to cut the deficit to three. The Flyers extended their lead back to six and wouldn't see its lead drop to less than four as they took the frame 25-20.
The middle set was tightly contested featuring 19 ties and seven lead changes. Lewis jumped out to an early five-point lead but the Red Flash countered with a 12-5 run to take its largest lead of the match at 14-12. The two sides then went back-and-forth as neither side held a lead of larger than a point. The Flyers got to set point first after a service error by Peyton Blain. Lewis was unable to close out the set as Blake Liprando scored to even the set at 24.
SFU had two chances to win the set and even the match at a set apiece but each time they committed a service error to tie the score. The Flyers had another chance to win the set but
Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) hit a ball out of bounds to even the set at 27. Brillhart shook it off and recorded a kill on the next point to set up Lewis' third set point of the frame. This time the Flyers were able seal the deal as Brillhart and
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) teamed up to stuff Nathan Zini to give Lewis a 29-27 set victory and a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third set was all Flyers as they scored the first three points and never trailed in the frame. They led by as many as six halfway through the stanza but the Red Flash wouldn't go without a fight as they used a 5-2 run to cut the Lewis lead to three. The Flyers finished the match strong scoring seven of the final 10 points of the match to win the set 25-18 and complete the sweep.
Lewis hit .349 for the contest with 40 kills against 11 errors in 83 swings. Mitchem led the way with 13 kills while
John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) added eight and Brillhart finished with seven.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 21 assists,
Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie) had a match-high 12 digs and Mitchem had a match-high seven blocks.
SFU had an attack percentage of .187 recording 31 kills against 17 errors in 75 chances. Liprando led the way with 14 kills while Zini added 11. Ryan Parker had a match-high 24 assists and Liprando added 10 digs.
The Flyers continue their five-match homestand next Friday (Jan. 21) hosting fifth ranked Long Beach State at 7 p.m.
