No. 15 Lewis Rallies For 3-2 Victory At Grand Canyon

PHOENIX – No. 15 Lewis men’s volleyball rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Grand Canyon 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-15, 15-10) on Saturday evening in a road Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match. The contest was the final regular season match for Lewis before opening the MIVA Tournament at home on Friday against IPFW.

“We had a sluggish start and were out of sync for a couple games,” head coach Dan Friend said. “But after a 10 minute break we jumped on them.”

Lewis recorded 23 combined kills from their middle hitters. Junior Matt Gallik (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) hit .450 with 12 kills while recording seven blocks (two solo). Junior Aaron Flick (North Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Edward) hit .714 with 11 kills. He had a career-high 12 blocks (three solo) to record a double-double. The duo helped Lewis total a season-high 19.5 blocks. Lewis has recorded double-digit blocks in five consecutive matches.

“Aaron was phenomenal,” Friend said. “He really stepped up as leader, with his play and verbally.”

Lewis dropped the first two sets, but never trailed in the final three. Lewis scored consecutive points on six occasions to easily take the third set. Leads of 5-0 and 8-1 gave the Flyers an early advantage in set four. In the fifth set Lewis hit .571, recording nine kills on 14 swings with one error. The Flyers sided out on 11-of-11 chances, preventing the Antelopes from scoring consecutive points. Flick had a kill for point 15.

Sophomore Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) led Lewis with 17 kills.

Freshman Carter Cassell (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon) started at setter. He recorded 45 assists and had six kills.

“Carter responded well,” Friend said. “We had a slow start but we got in a groove offensively late in the match and he put us in a position to win.”

The victory is Lewis’ first comeback after losing the first two sets since winning at Juniata on Feb. 20, 2010.

Grand Canyon finishes the regular season 8-23 (0-12 MIVA). Lewis concludes the regular season 19-10 (7-5 MIVA). Lewis opens the MIVA Tournament with a home match on Friday against IPFW at 7 p.m. Lewis is the No. 4 seed while IPFW is No. 5.