ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's volleyball team dropped a five-set match against Lindenwood on Friday afternoon at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Flyers drop to 7-4, 1-2 MIVA while the Lions move to 3-5, 1-2 MIVA.
Lewis hit a staggering .636 in the opening set recording 16 kills against two errors in 22 swings and was led by
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) who was 6-for-6 in the stanza. The Flyers used a 7-1 run midway through the frame to break a 13-13 tie to seize control of the set. Lindenwood got to within five but Lewis scored three of the final four points to win the opener 25-18.
The Flyers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set but gave up an 8-1 run to the Lions turning that four-point lead into a three-point deficit. Lindenwood stretched its lead to as many as seven when
Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) was called for a net violation on an attack attempt by Phil Swartz that put the Lions ahead 24-17. Lewis fought off two set points but not a third as Diego Negron recorded a kill to give Lindenwood the 25-19 win and even the match at a set apiece.
The Flyers played from a behind in a majority of the swing set as the Lions took an early three-point lead. Lewis battled back and eventually took a 22-21 lead on a kill from
Michael Sack (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Laurence) but were unable to gain separation as Lindenwood came right back to take a 23-22 lead on a kill from AJ Lewis. The two sides traded points as the Lions had four different set points before final closing it out with a kill and an ace from Negron to win the stanza 29-27.
The Flyers hit .538 in the fourth set as they led by as many as six in the stanza on their way to a 25-19 set victory to force a fifth and deciding set. Mitchem, Sack and
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had three kills apiece in the frame while
Tyler Morgan (Dike, Iowa/New Hartford) and
Carter Burzlaff (Elgin, Ill./Bartlett High School) added two apiece.
Lewis led 6-4 in the final set but Lindenwood went on a 5-1 run to grab a 9-7 lead after back-to-back aces from Negron. The Flyers cut the deficit to one at 10-9 but wouldn't get any closer as the Lions scored the final five points of the match to win 15-9.
Lewis hit .448 for the contest recording 58 kills against 11 errors in 105 chances. Mitchem led four Flyers in double figures with 17 kills while Burzlaff added 13 and Kauling and Sack finished with 10 apiece. Kauling also had 31 assists and
Carlos Jimenez (Miami Beach, Fla./FLVS) had six digs.
Lindenwood had a .336 attack percentage with 68 kills against 25 errors in 128 attempts and was led by Lewis who finished with a match-high 29 kills. He was joined in double figures by Negron and Swartz with 16 and 10 kills respectively. Negron also served seven aces in the contest. Connor Sheehan had 60 set assists and seven digs.
Lewis concludes its two-game road trip on Saturday as they travel to Quincy for a 7 p.m. contest against the Hawks.
