Comeback Falls Short As Lewis Loses To No. 15 Ball State In Five
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis men’s volleyball rallied back from an 0-2 deficit to force a fifth set with No. 15 Ball State on Tuesday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers led 11-10 in the fifth when Ball State scored four-straight points to pull away. Ball State won the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match 30-24, 31-29, 28-30, 23-30 and 15-13.
Lewis set a rally-scoring era record with 26.0 total blocks. Sophomore Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) had 13 blocks (three solo), to tie the rally scoring era record for individual blocks in a match.
Despite the loss, Lewis earned the head-to-head tiebreaker over Ball State by scoring more points than Ball State in the two matches between the clubs. Lewis took the previous meeting, Feb. 26 in Muncie, Ind., in five sets.
Neither team led by more than one point in the fifth set until the Cardinals’ late four-point run. Senior Nathan Klaas (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) delivered a kill to stop the Cardinals’ push and make it 14-12. On Ball State’s second match point senior Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) provided an impressive solo block to push the score to 14-13. Ball State asked for time and came out of the beak with a kill by Larry Wrather to take the match.
The Flyers forced a fifth set by winning the third and fourth frames. A block by Klaas and sophomore Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) provided Lewis’ 30th point in the third set. The fourth was all Lewis, with the Flyers scoring consecutive points on seven occasions.
The Flyers led the first set 16-14 and the second 17-14 before Ball State rallied back to take the frames.
Freshman Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) led Lewis with 15 kills and four aces. Klaas added 13 kills and nine digs. Junior Brian Muesenfechter (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers) hit. 320 with 12 kills, eight digs and six blocks (one solo). Iandolo totaled six blocks (three solo).
Lewis hit .161 while Ball State totaled a .160 hitting percentage.
“We struggled to find a rhythm to start the match and we were fighting it after that,” head coach Dan Friend said. “They did a better job of keeping the ball on us and we made a few more mistakes than they did.
Lewis falls to 5-1 in five-set matches.
“We dug in after being down 0-2 to be in a position to win,” Friend said. “This time we were on the wrong side.”
The match featured 50 ties and 20 lead changes. Ball State improves to 15-9 (6-4 MIVA). Lewis falls to 16-8 (5-4 MIVA).
Lewis is at Ohio State on Saturday.
