ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The No. 14 Lewis University men's volleyball team won, 3-2, over No. 12 Ball State on senior night Saturday (March 30) at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers honored seniors John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central), Connor Keating (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew), Christian Prayer (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North), Michael Sack (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Laurence) and Tyler Simpson (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) before the match.

TEAM RECORDS
No. 14 Lewis 15-12 (8-6 MIVA) | No. 12 Ball State 18-9 (11-3 MIVA)

LEWIS LEADERS
Kills: Daniel Haber (Remsenburg, NY/Westhampton Beach) (22), Syver Drolsum (Vikersund, Norway/Toppvolley Norge) (21), Max Roquet (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) (16)
Digs: Nico Paula (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School) (10), Haber (10), Drolsum (10)
Assists: Tyler Morgan (Dike, Iowa/Dike-New Hartford) (63)
Blocks: Shawn Baggs (Gilbert, Ariz./Casteel HS) (7), Roquet (5)
Aces: Morgan (2

SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: Ball State 25, Lewis 18
Ball State started hot, going up 5-2 early and pushing the lead to 8-4. Lewis charged back as back-to-back aces by Morgan capped off a 3-0 run that made it 8-7.

The Cardinals slowly rebuilt the lead until BSU had an 18-13 advantage. The Flyers earned the next two points, but Ball State then used a 4-0 charge to make it 22-15. BSU wrapped up the first set on a service error by Lewis.

Set 2: Lewis 25, Ball State 19
Ball State once again went up early, with a 6-2 advantage. The Flyers took four of the next five points to close the gap, then charged ahead with a 5-0 run including back-to-back kills by Drolsum to take an 11-8 lead.

After one point for the Cardinals, Lewis took another five in a row with three straight kills from Haber for a 16-9 advantage. Ball State was able to battle back with a 7-2 push that set the score at 20-17 Flyers.

A 3-0 Lewis run including a kill and ace by Drolsum made it 24-18 and a BSU service error finished the set in favor of the Flyers. Lewis held the Cardinals to a .178 attack percentage in the set, its lowest of the match.

Set 3: Lewis 25, Ball State 19
Neither side could gain much momentum early in set three until a 4-1 push for the Flyers gave Lewis a 8-5 lead. Ball State recovered to get the set tied at 10 but Lewis took off again as Haber had three straight kills in a 4-0 run that restored the lead to 15-11.

Later, a 7-2 charge from the Flyers kicked off by two kills by Drolsum and capped off by back-to-back kills that both featured Morgan and Baggs made it 22-16 Lewis. Once again, the set ended on a service error by BSU after Lewis hit .467 in the frame.

Set 4: Ball State 27, Lewis 25
The Flyers went ahead in the opening sequence of set four with a 4-0 run capped by an ace from Piotr Wymoczyl (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove HS) that made it 7-4. Both sides traded points from there until back-to-back kills by Baggs gave Lewis a 16-13 lead and prompted a Ball State timeout.

Lewis was able to push the lead to four points at 19-15 before the Cardinals used a 3-0 run to get within one. Another BSU run of three straight points later gave it a 22-21 advantage.

Both sides battled hard to the finish as the set went long before Ball State had two straight kills to force a fifth set.

Set 5: Lewis 15, Ball State 12
The Cardinals had a 2-1 lead early in set five and that was the final time that the Flyers trailed. Lewis took five of the next seven points with three kills to secure a 6-4 advantage.

Ball State tied it at six before Roquet rattled off three straight kills as the Flyers regained the lead at 9-6. Wymoczyl later had a huge solo block to make it 12-10 Lewis.

A kill by Roquet set up match point at 14-12 Flyers and an attack error by the Cardinals secured the victory for Lewis.

The Flyers had several players record career-highs in the win, including Haber with 22 kills and 10 digs, Drolsum with 21 kills and 10 digs, Morgan with 63 assists and Baggs tied his career-high with seven blocks, also reaching the mark on March 8 this year against Cal-Irvine.

UP NEXT
Lewis men's volleyball heads to Purdue Fort Wayne Thursday (April 4) for a 6 p.m. CT match to start its final week of the regular season.