Men's Volleyball Stumbles Against Ranked Flyers

Saturday, February 23

Romeoville, Ill.

8 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

6-5, 3-3MIVA

Lewis

11-5, 7-0MIVA

IPFW

Lewis

Photo by: Lucas Carter

Men's Volleyball Stumbles Against Ranked Flyers

2/23/2013 9:59:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (.pdf)

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The IPFW Mastodons stumbled on Saturday night, as the No. 12 ranked Lewis Flyers won in three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-15, 28-26 in a MIVA contest.

Eddie Rivera knocked down a team-high nine kills, while Ramon Burgos chipped in six. Rivera also led the team with nine digs and two blocks, while Keegan Robbins and Kevin Villela had the team's aces in the match.

IPFW (6-5, 3-3 MIVA) remained close throughout the first set, trailing by one at 16-15 before the hosts rattled off five straight points to lead 21-15. The Mastodons would climb to within four, but the Lewis (11-5, 7-0 MIVA) attack was too strong, as IPFW fell in the opening frame 25-20.

IPFW trailed by one at 15-14 in the second set, before Lewis' Jay Petty went on a serving binge, running off a pair of service aces, and serving the Flyers to a 6-0 run, and after a service error, Yiwei Zhou served the next four points for Lewis, including back-to-back blocks to end the set in a 25-15 advantage for the hosts.

Zhou helped put the hosts ahead 7-1 early in the third set, and Lewis led by seven at 14-7 before the Mastodons went on a run of their own, fighting back to eventually tie the game at 21 on a Villela service ace. The 'Dons forced extra play, tying the score at 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26; however, could not get over the hump, as the match ended on an IPFW service error.

IPFW totaled 36 kills in the loss, and hit .119 as a team, as Omar Rivera dished out 26 assists.

Lewis was led by Jay Petty who had 13 kills, while bobby Walsh had 11 and Geoff Powell 10. Walsh added a match-high seven blocks, while Petty had a pair of service aces.

The 'Dons remain on the road, and travel to Phoenix, Ariz., where the team will play a two-game series with the Grand Canyon Antelopes on March 1 and 2, both matches starting at 9 p.m. EST.

~ Feel the Rumble ~