ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- On another brisk Thursday night (April 10) in Romeoville No. 14 Lewis Men's Volleyball swept MIVA rival No. 6 Loyola Chicago 3-0.
TEAM RECORDS
No. 14 Lewis 21-8, 11-5 MIVA | No. 6 Loyola Chicago 21-3, 12-3 MIVA
LEWIS LEADERS vs. Ohio State
Kills: Max Roquet (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) (13),
Oguzhan Oguz (Bursa, Turkey/Ocean) (12)
Digs: Daniel Haber (Remsenburg, NY/Westhampton Beach) (7)
Assists: Tyler Morgan (Dike, Iowa/Dike-New Hartford) (44)
Aces: Shawn Baggs Jr. (Gilbert, Ariz./Casteel HS) (2)
Blocks: Baggs Jr. (1), Peter Wymoczyl (1)
Head Coach Dan Friend on the win:
"The guys did a fantastic job on the offensive side. They also stayed with the game plan and executed it at a high level. it was a great way to finish the regular season."
SET BREAKDOWN
SET 1: Lewis 25, Loyola Chicago 19
Roquet began Thursday's match with a kill to give Lewis their first lead of the night. The two teams exchanged the lead with two back-to-back points each, Lewis points coming from kills by Wymoczyl and Haber. After some more back and forth the Flyers would put up three straight points with a kill by Oguz, a block by Wymoczyl and Oguz and a service ace from Haber.
Lewis continued to expand their lead with with a service error and another ace from Haber, after two Loyola points the Flyers went on another three point run, this time with kills by Haber and Oguz and a block by Lewis' Morgan and Roquet.
After a strong fight down the set, the Flyers were the first to 20. The final points for the Flyers came from a Kill by Haber, a kill by Wymoczyl, a block by Baggs Jr. and finally a Baggs Jr. kill to finish off the first set.
SET 2: Lewis 25, Loyola Chicago 23
Lewis got ahead early with two kills by Roquet, The Ramblers tied the game on the next two plays. Both teams went back and forth for the next 7 points each. With Loyola-Chicago up 11-9, the Flyers went on a five-point run to take the lead, including a service ace, a kill by Haber, an attack error, and two blocks by Roquet/Baggs Jr./ Oguz and Baggs Jr./Roquet.
After a few more plays the game was tied at 17-17. Lewis added a quick two points with a service error and a block by Wymoczyl. The Ramblers tied the game three more times in the final stretch of the second set. The Flyers pulled ahead with two errors from Loyola and finally put the second set in the books with a kill from Oguz.
SET 3: Lewis 30, Loyola Chicago 28
The third set quickly turned into a battle of attrition with both squads going deep into the scorebook by the end of the set.
Loyola Chicago got ahead early and forced Lewis to play from behind from the get go. After two errors, the Flyers did not score until two back-to-back kills from Oguz and Roquet. Lewis tied the game at seven, gave up one point and then go on a three point run to take the lead off of a service error, a Roquet ace and a kill by Haber.
After the Ramblers tied the game again, Lewis started to pull away with a few short runs to outpace Loyola Chicago. Kills from Wymoczyl, Roquet, Haber and Baggs Jr. gave Lewis a 19-16 lead. The Ramblers would put up a three point run to tie at 19. The remainder of the match was a back and forth brawl with both teams committing their fair share of errors at the finish line. Finally, a kill by Roquet and a Loyola attack error gave Lewis the victory on their final regular season game of the year.
FINAL SCORE: Lewis 3, Loyola Chicago 0
UP NEXT
Lewis awaits seeding and its opponent for the MIVA Tournament, set to take place Saturday, April 19-Saturday, April 26. Stay tuned for more information.
RAE STRONG NIGHT
Tonight was Rae Strong Night and Lewis raised money to support all of the wonderful small miracles that bless us. The roots of the Rae Strong Foundation began with the support of Lewis University and continues to be fostered from the strong community at Lewis. In 2018, the Rae Strong Foundation was created as a means to help provide support for preemie families.
Dan Friend and Lorelee Smith are the proud parents of Rae, who was born at just 24 weeks, classifying her as a micro preemie. A micro-preemie is a baby born weighing less than 1 pound, 12 ounces or before 26 weeks gestation. For more information visit:
www.raestrong.org
Tonight, Lewis welcomed our wonderful partners tonight from VFC, Volleyball for Charity. They named RaeStrong last year as a beneficiary and donated $4,700 from the incredible tournament they run. This event was founded in 1981 by the Clark family in honor of their son, Robbie, who had physical and mental disabilities. Their goal was to raise awareness and funds for organizations supporting individuals with disabilities. Over the span of 35 years, the Clarks raised more than half a million dollars for these impactful causes. In 2016, the Oak Lawn Park District, in partnership with the Special Recreation Athletic Support Association, proudly took over the annual tournament—continuing its mission in Robbie Clark's honor to support deserving individuals and organizations.
VFC has once again named RaeStrong as a beneficiary in this year's tournament being held April 26th at Oak Lawn Community Pavillion in Oak Lawn, IL. For more information and to register for the tournament visit: http://www.volleyballforcharity.org
UPCOMING EVENTS
Be sure to join us Friday, June 13 as host our 45th annual Golf Outing at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club starting at 1 p.m. For more information and to register visit:
https://www.alumni.lewisu.edu/2025-athletics-golf-outing
