Lewis Athletics
Luke Rinne, Director of Athletic Communications
ROMEOVILLE – Lewis’ fifth ranked men’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to a season-high six matches with a sweep of Loyola on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in MIVA play while the Ramblers drop to 6-11, 3-4 MIVA.
Lewis trailed 8-7 in the opening set before going on a 9-2 run to take a 16-10 lead after a service ace from Kyle Bugée(Cupertino, Calif./Homestead). Loyola cut the margin to six at 20-14 on a kill by Jake Maffett but that was as close it would get as the Flyers scored five of the last six points to take the opening set 25-15.
Lewis hit .538 in the frame and was led by Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) with five kills apiece while TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) added three kills. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 15 assists and Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas/Bellarie) had six of his match-high 11 digs in the frame.
The second set featured 13 ties and five lead changes. It was tied at 15 when the Flyers scored three of the next four points to take an 18-16 lead. The Ramblers came back to even the set at 18 on a service ace by Devin Joslyn. Mitchem put Lewis back in front with a kill as Lewis extended its lead to 21-19. A service error brought Loyola to within 21-20 but the Flyers scored the final four points of the set to win 25-20.
Lewis hit .474 in the frame recording 11 kills against two errors in 19 chances. Coenen had four kills while Mitchem and Bugée had two apiece.
The Flyers broke open a tight third set with an 11-4 run to build a 16-9 lead midway through the frame. The Ramblers wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the match as Lewis closed it out scoring four of the final five points to win 25-15.
The Flyers hit .441 in the final set recording 18 kills against three errors in 34 swings. Coenen led the way with 10 kills in the finale while Mitchem added four.
Lewis finished the contest with an attack percentage of .481 (45 kills / 7 errors / 79 chances). Coenen finished with a double-double in the contest recording a match-high 19 kills and 10 digs. He was joined in double figures by Mitchem with 11 kills. Kauling handed out 37 assists and Gibbs had 11 digs.
The Flyer defense held the Ramblers to a hitting percentage of .211 (27 kills / 11 errors/ 76 chances) in the contest. Maffett led Loyola with seven kills while Cole Schlothauer added six kills. Ian Cowen had 19 assists and Jake Freeman finished with 10 digs.
Lewis heads to Palo Alto on Friday, March 6 to take on No. 13 Stanford at 9 p.m. (CST). It’ll be the first of two matches against the Cardinal as the two teams meet again on Saturday at 8 p.m. (CST).