Romeoville, Ill. – In a battle of top-10 nationally ranked teams, No. 6 Pepperdine pulled off a reverse sweep to stun No. 9 Lewis in intercollegiate men's volleyball action Saturday night at Neil Carey Arena.
With the win, the Waves improved to 4-1 while the Flyers dipped to 5-2.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Cole Hartke tallied a match-high 29 kills with Ryan Barnett aiding the Pepperdine offense with 13 kills of his own. Andrej Polomac amassed 53 assists while Barnett added in 13 digs of his own in the comeback win.
Daniel Haber (Remsenburg, NY/Westhampton Beach) led Lewis with a 13 kill, 10 dig double-double in the five set match.
Oguzhan Oguz (Bursa, Turkey/Ocean) paced the red and white with a team-best 14 kills with
Diego Estrada (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Adianez) providing 41 assists in the loss.
Nico Paula (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School) amassed a match-best 15 digs while
Shawn Baggs Jr. (Gilbert, Ariz./Casteel HS) ended the match with six total blocks. Lewis ended the match hitting at a clip of .188 (52-25-144) compared to .289 (63-20-149) for Pepperdine.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Down 5-4 in the winner take all fifth set, the Flyers found their lifeline as a
Cole Sweitzer (Middleton, Wis./Middleton HS) kill uncorked a short 4-2 run propelled Lewis into the lead, 8-6, at the media timeout.
Out of the break, the Waves took over as they embarked on a 6-2 run, paced by three kills from Hartke to jump ahead 14-10. Despite a kill from Preston Fixamer that made it 14-11, the Waves sealed the comeback win on the next point to leave Romeoville with their 3-2 comeback win.
Earlier in the match, the Flyers roared out of the gate as they tallied six of the first nine points of the evening. Lewis kept the Waves at bay for most of the first set and despite a late rally that trimmed the Lewis lead to just one, 21-20, the Flyers ended the set scoring four of the final seven points and capped it with a kill from Oguz to take a 1-0 match lead.
Tied 13-13 midway through the second frame, the Lewis offense found its spark as a Pepperdine service error sparked a 7-3 run that catapulted Lewis into the lead, 20-16. The Waves against attempted a late comeback with a 5-2 run that trimmed the Lewis lead to just one, 22-21. Again, the Flyers stymied the late surge and tallied three of the final five points of the set to win, 25-23 and take a 2-0 match lead.
The Waves flipped the script in sets three and four, winning 25-23 and 25-17 to tie the match 2-2 and set the scene for their late comeback.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
MATCH NOTES
- Today marked the 10th all-time meeting between the two sides
- Lewis dropped a match when leading 2-0 for the first time since March, 10, 2024 against No. 1 Grand Canyon University in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
- Paula ended in double-figures for digs for the first instance since Jan. 17 at No. 13 Penn State
- Lewis' 52 total assists are the most in a five-set match since they had 53 against Ball State on April 19, 2025.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will face another West Coast opponent on Jan. 30 at home against UC San Diego at 7 p.m.
For the latest news, scores, and updates on Lewis men's volleyball, visit LewisFlyers.com and follow the Flyers on social media at @Lewismensvb on Instagram and @LewisMVBall on X.
