Lewis’ sixth ranked men’s volleyball team defeated Ball State 3-1 at Worthern Arena on Saturday evening in Muncie, Ind. The Flyers improve to 9-4, 2-1 MIVA while the Cardinals drop to 8-4, 1-1 MIVA.

Lewis dominated the opening set racing out to a 6-1 lead and never allowed Ball State to get closer than three points in the stanza. The Flyers hit .409 in the frame, recorded 8.5 blocks and held the Cardinals to a negative .031 attack percentage. Lewis led by as many as 10 points before settling for the 25-16 win.

The Flyers used an 8-2 run early in the second set to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 12-7 lead. TJ Murray (Barrington, IL/Barrington HS) had two kills in that run while Ryan Coenen (Franklin, WI/Franklin) and Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) had one apiece. BSU closed to within four but Lewis pulled away down the stretch outscoring the Cardinals 11-7 to win 25-17. Coenen had five kills in the frame while Mitchem and Murray had three kills apiece.

Ball State flipped the script in the third set hitting .367 to the Flyers .290. It led by as many as six in the stanza but Lewis cut it to three late in the set before the Cardinals scored two of the final three points to win 25-21 and extend the match to a fourth set.

The fourth set was tied at four when the Flyers seized control with an 8-3 run. Ball State wouldn’t get closer than three points the rest of the match as Lewis pulled away for the 25-20 victory.

The Flyers hit .454 for the contest (60 kills-11 errors-108 total attacks) and were led by Coenen with 21 kills while Mitchem and Kyle Bugée (Cupertino, Caif./Homestead)added 12 kills apiece. Kevin Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) finished with 52 assists, Mitchem had eight blocks and Coenen had 10 digs.

The Cardinals finished the match with an attack percentage of .197 (47 kills-22 errors-127 total attempts). Kaleb Jenness led BSU with 15 kills while Blake Reardon added nine kills off the bench. Quinn Isaacson handed out 37 assists and Nick Lavanchy had a match-high 11 digs.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Lewis’ men’s basketball team overcame an 11-point first half deficit thanks to a second half rally to defeat Missouri S&T 67-63 on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena. The win was the third straight for the Flyers and improved them to 13-11, 8-8 GLVC while the Miners fall to 5-17, 3-13 GLVC.

Lewis struggled to find its rhythm in the first 20 minutes as S&T jumped out to an early lead. The Flyers got it to within four at 14-10 on a jumper from Anthony D’Avanzo (Harwood Heights, Ill./Notre Dame) with 9:07 left in the opening half.

The Miners answered with a 7-2 run over the next 1:24 to take extend its lead to 21-12 after CJ Hedgepeth hit 1-of-2 at the foul line.

Marco Pettinato (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) provided some scoring off the bench for Lewis with seven straight points during one stretch.

S&T though wasn’t missing as it extended its lead to 31-20 with 1:10 left in the opening half on a jumper from Hedgepeth.

Austin Boucher (Markle, Ind./Fort Wayne North Side) and Dulan Scott traded three’s before Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) hit a jumper in the closing seconds of the half to cut the Miner lead to 34-25 at the half.

The Flyers opened the second half on a 13-3 run over the first four-plus minutes to take its first lead of the contest on a three-pointer by Bell.

The lead changed hands several times over the next 11:30 minutes before Bell’s three put Lewis ahead for good at 61-59 with 4:09 to play.

S&T had a chance to tie the score with 61 seconds left but Dawson Berry hit 1-of-2 at the line and then on the other end D’Avanzo hit a layup to put the Flyers up 65-62 with 0:46 remaining.

The Miners had a chance to cut the lead to one on the ensuing possession but Hedgepeth made 1-of-2 at the line and then Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) sealed the victory hitting a jumper in the closing seconds to put Lewis up 67-63.

Yahmir Muhammad fired up a desperation three that went out of bounds giving the ball back to the Flyers.

Lewis shot over 43 percent from the floor but was only 6-of-20 from three and shot 68 percent at the foul line. Bell led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, 15 in the second half, and was joined in double figures D’Avanzo with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Pischke and Pettinato added nine points apiece.

S&T shot nearly 40 percent from the field, was 7-of-18 from three but shot 56 percent from the foul line. Scott led the Miners with 21 points while Hedgepeth finished with 13 points.