Courtesy: Beverly SchaeferThe seventh-ranked Lewis University Flyers completed their season sweep of a game Princeton men's volleyball team Tuesday night, winning the final two sets to cap a 3-1 win over the Tigers.
Princeton, which fell to 8-6, closed its two-match Midwestern trip with two losses against nationally ranked opponents. One night after nearly knocking off 14th-ranked Loyola in a five-set thriller, the Tigers split a pair against MIVA favorite Lewis before ultimately running out of gas against the explosive Flyers.
Lewis took the opener 25-18, but Princeton battled back for a 25-22 win in the second. The Tigers hit .324 in a set that featured nine ties and six lead changes, and opened up a late three-point lead with kills from Michael Dye and Pat Schwagler. A combo block from Davis Waddell and Will Siroky earned a set ball, and junior middle Brad Howard finished the set with one of his four kills.
Lewis took off from there, though, and hit .600 and .385 in the final two sets to win comfortably.
Schwagler led Princeton with 16 kills, though the offense was well balanced throughout the match. Three other players had at least seven kills, including Dye, who had his second-highest total of the season with eight kills. Both Schwagler and Devin Stearns had eight digs apiece, while Waddell paced the offense with 40 assists.
While another win over a ranked team would have been impressive, Princeton knows its path to the NCAA Championships goes through the EIVA. The Tigers can move into a share of second place in the league Saturday night when they head to Rutgers-Newark for a 2 pm showdown.
Following that match, Princeton will prepare for a huge home weekend with Saint Francis (Thursday) and No. 13 Penn State (Friday).
