No. 15 Lewis Rallies From Down 0-2 For Win At Juniata

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Juniata went up 2-0 on the Flyers on Saturday evening by hitting .371 and .243 in the first two sets respectively. However over the final three Lewis held Juniata to attack percentages of .075, .062 and .087 to comeback and defeat DIII No. 1 Juniata 3-2 (25-30, 28-30, 30-25, 30-24, 15-11).

Redshirt freshman Chris Biscardi (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) had his best match as a Flyer, hitting .524 with 13 kills. He also added 11 block assists.

"Biscardi was huge," head coach Dan Friend said. "He really dominated at times, including the fifth set where he controlled the net and had a few blocks."

Biscardi led a defensive effort that notched 18.0 blocks.

Senior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), freshman Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia), and sophomore Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) each had 11 kills. Klaas and Karbiener each also had six blocks.

Lewis began to turn it on in the second set when they recovered from a four-point deficit to tie the score as late as 24-24. A kill by Karbiener made it a 29-28 Juniata lead before Juniata asked for a time. A Biscardi service error gave the set to Juniata.

Juniata led the third set 13-10 until an 8-1 run by Lewis turned the tide. Lewis had only two kills during the stretch. The other six points came on blocks or Juniata attack errors. Juniata came back to knot it at 22 and 24, but the Flyers finished the set on another impressive run of 6-1. Klaas had a kill and assisted with Biscardi on two blocks during the stretch.

Lewis led the fourth set by just one at 21-20 when the Flyers scored four consecutive points, three on attack errors by Juniata. Biscardi had a kill and an ace for two of Lewis' final three points of the set.

Juniata took a quick 3-1 lead in the fifth set before Karbiener stopped their momentum with a kill. Lewis took control with a 4-0 run when the score was tied at seven. Biscardi had two block assists during the span.

"I think some of our conditioning and things we worked on in practice really paid off tonight," Friend said. "I think in the fifth set we looked fresher and had more gas in the tank."

Senior setter Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) totaled 49 assists, 10 digs and seven blocks (one solo). Senior libero Rikki Garma (Lihue, Hawaii/Ost) provided 13 digs.

The victory puts Lewis at 9-2 while Juniata falls to 4-5. Lewis returns to conference play on Tuesday with home match against Loyola-Chicago.