Lewis Men End Home Season With 3-2 Win

Match Stats

• No. 7 Lewis 3, No. 10 Loyola 2 (25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12)
• Lewis moves to 20-6, 11-3 MIVA; Loyola falls to 14-9, 7-5 MIVA
• Romeoville, Ill.
• Attendance: 1181
• Box Score

It was designated as a White Out and Senior Night, but it took a comeback effort for No. 7 Lewis to steal away the five set win and keep the Flyers firmly in second place in the MIVA standings. Lewis topped the No. 10 Loyola Ramblers 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12.

The fifth set was a see-saw battle. Loyola led 6-3 early, thanks to three kills by junior opposite Ben Plaisted, who ended the night with 25 putaways. Lewis answered with a 6-1 run including three Rambler miscues, which made it 9-7 in favor of the home team. After a tie at 9, redshirt freshman outside hitter Ryan Coenen downed three kills to push the Flyer advantage to 14-11. A Loyola kill kept the set going, before Coenen pounded down his team-best 18th kill of the night to finish off the comeback.

Coenen also added eight digs, three blocks and two aces on the night. Four other players posted eight or more putaways for the Flyers. Redshirt sophomore opposite Mitch Perinar turned in nine and added nine digs and three blocks. Redshirt senior middle blocker Jacob Schmeigelt, senior middle John Hodul and senior outside Trevor Weiskircher added kills eight apiece in their final home match. Hodul hit at a .615 clip, while Weiskircher posted a .462 efficiency. Redshirt sophomore outside Michael Simmons posted a team-best 10 digs.

For Loyola, Plaisted, reigning VolleyMob Player of the Week, racked up a match-high 25 kills to go with nine digs and four blocks. Sophomore outside Will Tischler added 16 kills, seven digs and two aces, while hitting at a .462 clip. Sophomore outside Collin Mahan nearly picked up a double-double, posting a team-leading 10 digs and adding nine kills. Sophomore middle Paul Narup put up six blocks and junior middle Jeff Jendryk chipped in five as the Ramblers outblocked Lewis 12-7.

Lewis hit at a .321 clip to Loyola’s .275 effort. The Flyers .275 or better in four of the five sets, including a .520 effort in Set 1.

The teams were deadlocked at 13 in Set 1 before Lewis pulled away and closed out the set on a 12-5 run, including kills by five different players. A Loyola service error accounted for the final point.

In Set 2 saw seven early ties, last at 11, before Loyola put together a 5-0 run, capped by a Jendryk ace. Lewis answered with four of the next five points to pull within two at 17-15, but that was as close at the Flyers would get. Back-to-back kills by Mahan made it 24-19 and a Narup putaway sealed it three points later.

After splitting the first 20 points of Set 3, Lewis built a 17-14 edge, including a pair of aces. Loyola countered with a 6-0 run, featuring two Plaisted kills and a kill and an ace by Mahan, to take the lead at 20-17. The teams tied at 21 and 23, before a Jendryk kill and Tischler ace gave the Ramblers the win and 2-1 advantage in the match.

Dead even through 24 points in Set 4, a kill and an ace by Coenen capped a 6-3 run and gave Lewis a three-point edge at 18-15. Ties at 18 and 19 followed before seniors Weiskircher and Schmeigelt added two kills apiece to put their squad up 23-20. A Schmeigelt ace wrapped the 25-21 win and sent the match to a decisive fifth set.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy: Lewis Athletics

Romeoville, Ill. – The No. 7 Lewis University men’s volleyball team went the distance for the 10th time this season and came away with its eighth five-game win, as the Flyers picked up the 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association victory over Loyola at Neil Carey Arena on Tuesday (March 28).

The match also marked the fifth time in the last six matches that Loyola and Lewis have played a five-set match.

With the win, Lewis improves to 20-6 overall and 11-3 in MIVA action, while the Ramblers drop to 14-9 on the campaign and 7-5 in conference play.

Lewis redshirt freshman outside hitter Ryan Coenen (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) registered a team-best 18 kills with a hitting percentage of .324 (18 kills, 7 errors, 34 attacks) to place the Flyers.

Four different Flyers collected eight or more kills in the victory. Redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Mitch Perinar (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and nine digs, while seniors Jacob Schmiegelt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook), John Hodul (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Trevor Weiskircher (Loves Park, Ill./Boylan Catholic) each had eight putaways.

Lewis sophomore setter Matt Yoshimoto (Ventura, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo) enjoyed a solid all-around match with a match-high 48 assists to compliment his four kills, four digs, two service aces and two blocks (1 solo).

Flyer redshirt sophomore libero Michael Simmons (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) picked up a match-high 14 digs, helping Lewis to a 49-40 advantage over the Ramblers in digs.

As a team, Lewis recorded a hitting percentage of .321 (61-19-131), while the Ramblers hit .285 (59-20-137).

The Flyers return to action on April 6th, as they head to Muncie, Ind., for a 7:30 PM ET showdown with Ball State.

Courtesy: Loyola Athletics

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. –

Final Score: No. 7 Lewis 3, No. 10 Loyola 2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 12-15)
Records: Loyola (14-9, 7-5 MIVA); Lewis (20-6, 11-3 MIVA)
Location: Neil Carey Arena — Romeoville, Ill.
Stats: Box Score  | Season Stats 

In Short
Ben Plaisted produced a career-high 25 kills and Will Tischler added a season-high 16 stops, but No. 10 Loyola University Chicago dropped a gut-wrenching 18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 12-15 decision at No. 7 Lewis (20-6, 11-3 MIVA) tonight at Neil Carey Arena. The loss puts an end to the Ramblers’ three-match win streak and drops them to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play.

How It Happened
Lewis hit a sizzling .520 (15-2-25) in the opening set to earn a 25-18 victory. The Flyers rattled off three straight points to break a 13-all tie and grab hold of a 16-13 advantage, never looking back en route to the win. Plaisted was dominant in the opening set, accounting for each of the Ramblers’ first seven kills and nine of their first 11 stops.

Five unanswered points helped Loyola gain control of set two as they broke an 11-11 tie and seized a 16-11 lead as Jeff Jendryk tallied a kill and a service ace in that set-changing spurt. Loyola tallied a .364 hitting percentage (17-5-33) in set two to even the match at a set apiece.

Set three was a back-and-forth affair and the Flyers held a 17-14 lead before the Ramblers strung together a half dozen consecutive points to stake claim to a 20-17 advantage. Plaisted had a hand in four of those points, accounting for two kills, a block and an assist, but Lewis charged back and tied the score at 21. After Loyola went back up by two, the Flyers tied the set yet again before a Jendryk kill and a Tischler ace finished off Lewis for a 25-23 win.

Loyola used a 4-1 run to overcome a three-point deficit and tie things up at 19 in the fourth set, but two Trevor Weiskircher kills were part of a 3-0 surge that gave Lewis the lead for good en route to a 25-21 victory that forced a fifth set.

The Ramblers jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the final set as Plaisted ripped three kills during that opening run. Lewis, however, would counter with a 6-3 run of its own to knot the score at 9, and back-to-back stops from Weiskircher and Ryan Coenen gave the Flyers an 11-9 lead they would never relinquish.

Inside The Box Score
– Plaisted banged out a career-best 25 kills and added nine digs and four blocks to lead Loyola, which also received 16 kills and seven digs from Tischler.
– Collin Mahan just missed a double-double, tallying nine kills and a team-high 10 digs.
– Coenen led Lewis with 18 kills.
– Loyola and Lewis have gone five sets five times in the last six meetings between the teams.

Up Next
Loyola hosts Grand Canyon on March 31 and April 1.