Ian Karbiener’s Double-Double Helps Lewis To Sweep Of Grand Canyon
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis out-hit Grand Canyon .312 to .188 in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match on Friday. Lewis swept the Antelopes 30-18, 30-28, 30-26. Thanks to the victory and Ball State’s loss to Ohio State on Friday evening, Lewis can clinch the No. 3 seed in the MIVA tournament by defeating Grand Canyon in Lewis’ regular season finale on Saturday.
The Flyers were led by freshman Ian Karbiener’s (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs.
“Ian had a really nice game,” head coach Dan Friend said. “He had a double-double with some good numbers.”
Senior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) totaled 13 kills and seven digs with seven blocks (one solo). Klaas now ranks 10th in Lewis history in kills with a career total of 854. Junior Brian Muesenfechter (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers) hit .400 with six kills.
Lewis hit .583 in the opening set, earning 16 kills on just 24 swings. The Flyers never trailed in the second set but Grand Canyon did rally late to cut the score to 28-27. However Lewis scored the final two points of the set on kills by Karbiener and Klaas. The third set was the closest of the match, featuring 18 ties and five lead changes. It was tied at 24 when Lewis finished on a 6-2 run. Klaas had a kill and a block during the stretch.
In addition to hitting percentage, Lewis also held advantages in aces (4-1), blocks (8-3) and digs (39-36).
“I thought the guys did a nice job defensively,” Friend said. “We’ve been working on our floor defense and we out dug a team with better digs stats than us.”
Grand Canyon is now 14-24 (1-10 MIVA). Lewis improves to 17-9 (6-5 MIVA). The Flyers and Antelopes play again on Saturday evening. The match will be Senior Night.
