No. 15 Lewis Earns Key Road MIVA Win In Five At Ball State
MUNCIE, Ind. - The 15th ranked Flyers earned their first victory at Ball State since 2004 thanks to a 3-2 (30-23, 27-30, 34-32, 26-30, 15-13) decision over the Cardinals on Friday night in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match.
Lewis led 1-0 and 5-4 but didn't lead again in the final set until a Ball State service error and consecutive Muesenfechter kills made it a 12-10 score. Ball State asked for time and responded with a kill. Lewis called a time out of their own and went to Muesenfechter out of the break for his fourth kill of the set. The teams traded points setting up match point at 14-12. A kill by Ball State's Jamion Hartley made it 14-13. Following a Lewis timeout the Flyers went to sophomore Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) for the match clinching kill.
The Flyers took the opening set only to see Ball State win the second.
Lewis led the third 27-23 when Ball State rallied to knot it at 28. The teams traded points until 32-32 when a Ball State service error and a Lee Meyer attack error gave Lewis the consecutive points they needed to take the set 34-32.
Ball State won the fourth set with a 6-1 run midway through the frame to set up Lewis' victory in the fifth.
Freshman Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) led Lewis with 22 kills. Muesenfechter added 13 kills and five aces.
"Brian's numbers weren't huge but he had a couple huge hits for us," head coach Dan Friend said. "Ian picked up the slack offensively and between those two we got it done."
Lewis out-blocked Ball State 18.0 to 11.0. Senior Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) had nine blocks (two solo) while totaling 56 assists. Redshirt freshman Chris Biscardi (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) finished with eight block assists.
Senior Rikki Garma (Lihue, Hawaii/Ost totaled 15 digs for Lewis. Lewis out-hit Ball State .213 to .185.
"The guys are pretty excited to get a win out here," Friend said. "It's a place we've always struggled and to do it off a tough loss feels good. I think we're taking small steps and we rebounded well tonight."
The win improves Lewis to 10-3 (3-2 MIVA) while Ball State falls to 9-5 (3-4 MIVA). Lewis is at UCLA on Wednesday for a 9 p.m. CT first serve.
