ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's sixth ranked men's volleyball team begins its quest for a third consecutive Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) title this Thursday (Feb. 10) as it takes on 10th ranked Ball State at 7 p.m. The Flyers conclude their homestand on Saturday hosting No. 12 Ohio State at 5 p.m.
Last Time Out – Lewis defeated Grand Canyon in a five set thriller last Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena.
Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) led the way with 16 kills in the contest while
Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie) added 14 and
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had a triple-double with 29 assists, 12 digs and 10 kills.
Theme Nights – The Flyers have a pair of theme nights on tap for this weekend's matches. Thursday night will be Sign Night with fans encouraged to bring signs to the game while Saturday's match will be the annual Black Out Match.
AVCA Rankings – The Flyers remained sixth in this week's AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll and extended its streak of being ranked to 185 weeks which includes 63 straight weeks in the top 10. The last time the Flyers weren't ranked in the AVCA Poll was on Jan. 31, 2011.
About Ball State – Ball State enters Thursday's MIVA opener with a record of 6-1. The Cardinals went 2-1 last week defeating Hawii in five sets last Monday in Muncie, Ind., and then traveled out to Provo, Utah where they split a pair of matches against BYU. Kaleb Jenness has won the last two MIVA Offensive Player of the Week awards and Quinn Isaacson is the reigning MIVA Defensive Player of the Week.
About Ohio State – The Buckeyes opened their season with three straight wins but have since dropped three of their last four heading into Thursday's MIVA opener at McKendree. OSU recently went 0-2 in California falling to Long Beach State in four sets and UC Santa Barbara in four sets. Jacob Pasteur leads the Buckeye attack with 89 kills while Samuel Clark and Martin Lallemand have 70 kills apiece. Noah Platfoot is the team's primary setter with 9.22 per set while Parker Mikesch is averaging 1.81 digs per set and Justin Howard is averaging 0.72 blocks per set.
Series Stuff – Thursday's game is the 67th meeting all-time between Lewis and Ball State with the Flyers holding a 34-32 edge in the series and have won 17 of the last 21 matches. The Flyers won all three meetings against the Cardinals in 2021 by virtue of sweeps.
Lewis and Ohio State will meet for the 62nd time on Saturday with the Buckeyes holding a 37-24 lead in the all-time series. The Flyers have won four of the last five contests in the series but the two teams split the two-game series in Columbus last year with OSU winning the first one in four sets and Lewis taking the second one in straight sets.
Up Next – The Flyers travel to St. Charles, Mo., next Thursday to take on Lindenwood in a 7 p.m. match at Hyland Arena on the Lindenwood campus.
