Petty Powers No. 14 Lewis Men’s Volleyball To 3-2 Win At No. 5 Long Beach State

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Sophomore Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) recorded nine of his 21 kills in the fifth set as No. 14 Lewis men’s volleyball upset No. 5 Long Beach State 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14) on Friday (March 11) evening. It’s the Flyers’ first victory over Long Beach State in program history.

“I talk about needing guys to step up against top teams and tonight Jay was that guy,” head coach Dan Friend said. “He was awesome in the fifth set.”

Petty added seven digs and two blocks (one solo) in addition to his 21 kills. Freshman setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) had 48 assists. Freshman libero Roberto Torres-Davis (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Benito) totaled a career-high 16 digs. Junior middle hitter Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) had seven kills and no errors on 14 attempts to finish with a .500 attack percentage. Flick also had six blocks (one solo).

As a team Lewis out-blocked Long Beach State 14.0 to 7.5.

Senior Brian Muesnfechter (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers) added eight kills, nine digs and six block assists. Sophomore Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) added 12 kills.

“To take that next step as a program you need everyone clicking,” Friend said. “We had a number of guys play well tonight and that’s how you get big wins.”

The wild fifth set featured eight ties and seven lead changes. Long Beach State held an 8-5 lead after a 6-1 run. The teams traded points and then Lewis scored four straight to grab a 10-9 advantage. Three consecutive Long Beach State points gave the advantage back to the home side. Back came the Flyers, scoring three consecutive points of their own to lead 13-12. Back-to-back kills provided Long Beach State match point at 14-13. Lewis went to Petty for kills on point 14, 15 and 16.

The Flyers had their backs against the wall in the fourth set after falling behind 18-16. A pair of attack errors by Long Beach State and a solo block by Petty gave Lewis a 19-18 lead. Long Beach State tied it, but never held a lead again in the set.

“We really grinded out some points tonight,” Friend said. “The match was back and forth but we got better as the match went on.”

Lewis improves to 13-5. Long Beach State falls to 9-8. The Flyers play UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday.