ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University’s 13th ranked men’s volleyball team defeated Lindenwood 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 29-27, 25-21) in its regular season finale on Saturday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 15-11, 7-7 MIVA and will be the four seed in the MIVA Tournament while the Lions drop to 8-13, 4-10 MIVA and will be the seventh seed.
Lewis jumped out to a four-point lead to begin the match but Lindenwood fought back to within 10-9 after an error by John Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). The Flyers then went on a 5-1 run to extend its lead to five after an ace by Christian Prayer (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North). The Lions countered with a 13-8 of their own to tie the frame at 23 after an error by Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) but Lewis was able to score the final two points to take the opening stanza 25-23.
Lindenwood led by as many as nine in the second set but the Flyers went on a late run to cut the margin to 22-19 after a kill from Mitchem. However, the Lions were able to close the set out by scoring three of the last four points to win the frame 25-20 and even the match at a set apiece.
Lewis led by as many as five points in the swing set but Lindenwood wouldn’t go away as they came back to even things at 24 after an ace from Connor Sheehan. The Flyers had three additional opportunities to win the set before finally taking it after back-to-back errors from AJ Lewis to win 29-27.
The fourth set was tight early before Lewis began to pull away with a 4-1 run to build a 14-10 lead and force a Lion timeout. The Flyers still led by four let in the frame but Lindenwood made one final push closing to within 22-20 after a kill from Sheehan. Lewis was able to hang on scoring three of the final four points to win 25-21.
The Flyers hit .250 for the match with 51 kills against 24 errors in 108 chances and were led by Prayer with 16 kills while Mitchem finished with 13 kills. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) dished out 45 assists along with eight digs and Mitchem added six blocks.
The Lions hit .275 in the contest with 46 kills against 18 errors in 102 chances and were led by Lewis with 18 kills and Carter Stenmark finished with 14 kills. Sheehan had 39 assists, Kadin Warner had six blocks and Kyle Deutschmann finished with seven digs.
Lewis will host fifth seeded Ohio State next Saturday evening in the first round of the MIVA Tournament at Neil Carey…
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