No. 15 Lewis Wins Five Set Thriller Over No. 13 UC San Diego

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – After surrendering a two-set advantage, the No. 15 Flyers turned away four UC San Diego match-points in the fifth set to defeat the No. 13 Tritons 3-2 (30-26, 30-23, 20-30, 24-30, 19-17) in a non-conference match at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday. The nail-biting fifth set featured 13 ties and five lead changes.

Lewis trailed 14-12 in the fifth when the Flyers stayed alive with a kill by freshman Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) and a triple block on the following point. Phil Bannan responded with a kill for UCSD to give the Tritons their third match-point at 15-14. Bannan went back to serve and delivered a float serve that angled toward the sideline. The Flyers wisely opted to let the serve fall out of bounds, however only by a matter of inches.

UCSD came up with a kill on the next play to earn their fourth and final match point at 16-15. Sophomore Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) kept Lewis alive with a kill to knot it at 16. Lewis took the lead when sophomore Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) pounded down an errant UCSD overpass. The Tritons rejected Lewis’ attempt to win the match with a kill by Cyrus Kiani to tie it at 17. However it would be the last point the Tritons would score.

Senior setter Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) had a kill on the second touch to make it 18-17. The Flyers then won it when Gallik scored the same way he did three points earlier, by jumping on a Tritons’ overpass. His kill ended the match and sent the Lewis faithful home happy. Gallik’s opportunity was set up by a solid serve by Iandolo.

“The guys dug in during the fifth set,” head coach Dan Friend said. “It was good to see them fight even after a couple mistakes. We kept coming back and pulled it out.”

Lewis held an 18.5 to 14.5 edge in blocks. The Flyers recorded a season-best nine aces while limiting UCSD to just one.

“For the most part our serve-pass game was better than the night before,” Friend said.

Gallik hit .370 with a double-double of 15 kills and 12 blocks (3 solo). Flick finished with 10 kills, four blocks and two aces.

“Our middles (Gallik and Flick) did a good job carrying the offensive load tonight,” Friend said.

Karbiener totaled 12 kills, nine digs and two aces. Senior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 11 kills, seven digs and two aces. Junior Brian Muesenfechter (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers) provided eight kills, six digs and six blocks.

The win avenges a three-set loss to UCSD on Friday. The Flyers are now 5-0 in five-set matches this year.

UCSD falls to 7-14. Lewis improves to 12-6. The Flyers host Juniata on Friday at 7 p.m.