ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's seventh ranked men's volleyball team dropped a top 10 matchup to fifth ranked Long Beach State 3-1 (22-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-20) on Friday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers drop to 3-1 while the Beach improves to 3-0.
The opening set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Lewis led by as many as two at 21-19 after a kill from
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS). Long Beach rallied scoring five straight points to grab a 24-21 lead after a bad set by
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). The Flyers fought off the first set point as
Tyler Morgan (Dike, Iowa/New Hartford) knocked home a kill but couldn't stave off a second as Alex Nikolov recorded his seventh kill of the set to give the Beach a 25-22 set victory.
Lewis trailed by five midway through the second frame but rallied to within two at 24-22 after an ace from
Michael Sack (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Laurence). Long Beach went onto take the set on a kill from Spencer Olivier to win 25-22 and take the 2-0 lead in the contest.
The third set was a see-saw affair and saw LBSU lead by as many as three at 24-21 after
Christian Prayer (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) was blocked by Shane Holdaway and Aidan Knipe for triple match point. Lewis ran off three straight and tied it when Mitchem, Prayer and
John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) teamed up to block Olivier and forced the Beach to take a timeout. The Flyers continued their run getting back-to-back kills from Mitchem and Davis to win the set 26-24 and extend the match.
Lewis trailed by three in the final set but came back to tie things at 18 after an attack error from Nikolov. The Beach took advantage of back-to-back errors from the Flyers to regain the lead at 20-18. Lewis appeared to cut the lead to one on a kill by Prayer but LBSU challenged that the block by Simon Torwie and Clarke Godbold landed inbounds and the call was reserved giving the Beach a 21-18 lead. The Flyers wouldn't get closer than three the rest of the way as Long Beach scored four of the final five points to win the set 25-20.
Lewis finished the contest with a .226 hitting percentage recording 52 kills against 24 errors in 124 chances. Mitchem led the Flyers with 15 kills while Sack added nine and
Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) finished with eight.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 38 assists, Mitchem and Davis had five blocks apiece and
Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie) had nine digs.
The Beach hit .309 for the match recording 52 kills 18 errors in 110 chances. Nikolov had a match-high 16 kills to lead three players in double figures. Godbold and Olivier had 14 and 12 kills respectively. Knipe finished with 45 assists, Holdaway and Knipe had six blocks each and Mason Briggs finished with 19 digs.
Lewis wraps up its five-match homestand on Saturday (Jan. 22) hosting Belmont Abbey at 7 p.m.
