ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's 11th ranked men's volleyball team snapped its two-game skid with a sweep of Benedictine on Wednesday evening at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill. The Flyers improve to 9-6 while the Eagles fall to 7-5.
Lewis never trailed in the opening set as it built an early five-point advantage and forced Benedictine to take an early timeout. The Eagles got as close as 14-13 but the Flyers responded with a 5-1 run to regain its five-point advantage after a kill from
John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). Benedictine tried to rally late closing to within 23-20 after an error by
Max Roquet (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) but Lewis scored two of the last three points to take the opener 25-21.
The middle stanza saw five ties and three lead changes early before the Flyers began to pull away thanks to a 6-2 run to build their largest lead of the set at 15-9 after an error by Martin Radomski. The Eagles made a late run to get within three but wouldn't get any closer as Lewis score five of the final eight points to win the frame 25-20.
The Flyers raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the final stanza only to see Benedictine come back to tie things at 3-3. It wouldn't stay tied for long though as Lewis went on a 7-3 run to build a four-point cushion and wouldn't let the Eagles get closer than three the rest of the set on its way to the 25-20 victory.
The Flyers hit .358 for the contest with 40 kills against 11 errors in 81 swings. Roquet led the way for Lewis with 10 kills while Davis added seven and Antonio Elias Rodriguez and
Cole Brillhart (York, Pa./Northeastern) had five each.
Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 16 assists and Roquet finished with four digs.
Benedictine finished the match with an attack percentage of .182 recording 31 kills against 17 errors in 77 chances. Jacob Grygo led the Eagles with a match-high 12 kills while Nathan Klimisch added eight kills. Sanchit Khaitan had 27 assists while Radomski and Klimisch each had six digs.
The Flyers are back at home on Friday evening hosting Emmanuel (Ga.) at 7 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.
