Frequent Flyer Club. Lewis University. Inside this issue:

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1 Lewis University Frequent Flyer Club March 19, 2009 Inside this issue: Hello Frequent Flyer members! It has been a while and there s much to go over in this edition...and it s all good news! If you haven t already heard, after beating Ball State last week we put ourselves in a great position to reach our goal of hosting the conference tournament. The guys are pretty excited about the opportunity they see ahead. If we win out at home we are in good shape! All of the extra reps, lifting, and video sessions are beginning to show why we are #1 in conference and a top 10 team in the country. Letter from Coach Eli Masud 1 This past month has not only been a great turning point in the season for us in the Wins column but a couple of other guys have shown that they are able to step onto the court and create some plays. Craig Boller, Gustavo Cintron, and Rikki Garma have all had big matches for us. I feel that this bench is the deepest in conference and as a coach it s a great feeling to know that we can mix up lineups and still have excellent team chemistry. Lewis vs. NYU 2 Thanks for all of the support. I look forward to seeing you at our next 3 home matches vs. George Mason, Quincy, and Rutgers. Lewis vs Ball St 3 Eli Masud Assistant Coach Drew Pickering 4 California Trip 5,6 Rankings 7 Stats 8,9 Players Side Schedule Televised Matches 10, 11 12, 13 Flyer Club 14

2 No. 10 Men's Volleyball Sweeps NYU-Nathan Klaas records 14 killsmarch 15, 2009 ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - No. 10 men's volleyball wasted little time in sweeping NYU 30-20, 30-24, on Sunday evening at Neil Carey Arena. Junior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had a team-best 14 kills with three aces and two blocks (one solo). Freshman Aaron Flick (Strongville, Ohio/St. Edward) hit.444 with a career-high 11 kills. Sophomore Brian Muesenfechter (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) added six kills and team-high seven digs. Junior Andy Frontz (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) had 21 assists, six blocks (one solo) and five digs in just two sets of action. "The guys stepped on the court and took care of business," head coach Dan Friend said. "Nathan and Aaron did a nice job and Andy provided a steady flow of energy." The Flyers dominated the opening set, out-hitting the Violets.357 to The Flyers pulled away with a 7-1 run halfway through. Set two was closer. NYU held a lead as large as a two points, eventually holding a advantage. Sophomore Brian Schmidt (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) recorded a kill to knot it up at 23 and then went back to serve. That's when Lewis took control thanks to solid serving by Schmidt. He ignited a 7-0 run, including back-to-back points where NYU's pass went over the net for a free ball that quickly Flick pounded home. Following an NYU timeout, Schmidt fired an ace to keep the streak going. NYU scored a point to stop the stretch, but then Muesenfechter and Klaas notched kills to finish the set at Lewis opened the third set on an 8-1 run before NYU rallied to get within one at Klaas halted the streak with a kill and the Flyers' traded points the rest of the way for the victory. The Violets fall to Lewis improves to The Flyers play at Juniata on March 21.

3 No. 10 Men's Volleyball Rallies For 3-2 Victory Over No. 14 Ball State Three Flyers record double-digit kills March 13, 2009-ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Senior Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West) hit.479 with 27 kills, nine digs, five aces and four blocks to help the No. 10 Flyers to a 3-2 (30-26, 26-30, 28-30, 30-25, 19-17) victory over No. 14 Ball State on Friday evening in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match at Neil Carey Arena. Pickering came up with numerous powerful kills on the evening, but he went with the soft tip kill for the Flyers' 19th point in set five. Senior Billy Sahagian (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) added 14 kills on 24 swings, with six blocks (one solo). "Drew and Billy did a fantastic job of carrying the team on their back," head coach Dan Friend said. "Every really good team needs a couple guys to step up when they are needed, and those guys did that tonight." Junior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) totaled 18 kills and five blocks (two solo). The third set was a battle but it looked like the Flyers had it in their pocket after scoring four straight points to take a advantage. The final point in the run was a crowd pleaser. Senior Nick Perakes (Orlando, Fla./Cypress Creek) chased down a ball that junior Rikki Garma (Lihue, Hawaii/Ost) made a diving dig on. The Flyers were able to get the ball over the net and then earned the point when Ball State's ensuing attack was into the net. However Ball State scored five of the final six points to take the set. Set four was tied at eight until Lewis went on an impressive 11-0 run with Pickering serving. Pickering had an ace and two kills during the stretch. Multiple substitutions and both Ball State timeouts couldn't stop the Flyers' momentum. Ball State held a 9-8 advantage in the fifth set until the Flyers scored four straight to take a 12-9 lead. Again, Pickering had an ace during the run. Then the Cardinals turned it on, scoring the next two points and forcing Lewis to call a timeout. Sahagian followed with a kill to stop the run and make it a Lewis lead. The teams traded points and the Flyers earned match-point at However three straight Cardinals' points gave Ball State a match point of their own. No surprise it was Pickering with the kill to knot it at 15. A block by sophomore Brian Muesenfechter (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) and junior Craig Boller (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) gave the Flyers the upper hand at After trading points Lewis finally put it away on Pickering's touch kill. Junior Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) recorded a career-high 68 assists with 11 digs. Perakes was a dig short of his career high, recording 19. Garma added five digs and Muesenfechter had three kills in reserve roles. "Rikki was awesome tonight," Friend said. "He did Brian both provided a lot off the bench." The Cardinals fall to 10-6 (4-2 MIVA). Lewis improves to 13-5 (4-1 MIVA). The Flyers host NYU on Sunday at 5 p.m. GO FLYERS!!!

4 Drew Pickering Named MIVA Player Of The Week Senior earns fifth career MIVA honor March 16, 2009 ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis University senior outside hitter Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West) has been named the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Player of the Week for the third time this season. Pickering recorded a match-high 34.5 points in Lewis' 3-2 (30-23, 26-30, 28-30, 30-25, 19-17) come-frombehind victory over Ball State. He posted 27 kills while hitting.479 for the match. Pickering added five aces, a solo block and three block assists against the Cardinals. He had nine digs in the contest and handled 32 of 33 serve reception attempts. Pickering provided the match-winning kill at in the fifth set. For the match, he averaged 6.90 points, 5.40 kills, 1.00 aces, 1.80 digs and.80 blocks per game. "It's a great honor for Drew and he really deserves it," head coach Dan Friend said. "He did a fantastic job of putting the team on his back in a crucial conference match." The accolade is Pickering's fifth MIVA Player of the Week honor of his career and third of the season. Pickering leads the MIVA in kills with 4.27 per set. The No. 11 Flyers (14-5, 4-1 MIVA) play at Juniata on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

5 No. 9 Men's Volleyball Tops UC Santa Cruz, 3-1 Flyers improve to 12-3 March 5, 2009 SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Behind a team-high 20 kills from senior Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West), the No. 9 Lewis University men's volleyball team defeated UC Santa Cruz 3-1 (30-32, 30-22, 30-26, 30-19) on Wednesday evening. Pickering finished with a.471 hitting percentage. Junior Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 16 kills, hitting Senior Alex Vigansky (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) also hit.400, with 10 kills. Junior Craig Boller (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) recorded eight kills on 14 swings. As a team Lewis hit.368 with 73 kills. Junior setter Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) added 63 assists. He led the Flyers in blocks with six, helping Lewis to 15 total blocks. "We were out east last weekend and now we are on the opposite coast so it was good to come out here and get in a rhythm," head coach Dan Friend said. "We were able to get our legs under us and get a win." UC Santa Cruz falls to The Flyers improve to Lewis plays at No. 7 Stanford on Friday and Saturday evening.

6 No. 7 Stanford Sweeps No. 9 Men's Volleyball Flyers face Stanford again on Saturday March 6, 2009 STANFORD, Calif. - Senior Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West) had 13 kills and five digs but No. 7 Stanford swept No. 9 Lewis 30-20, 30-28, on Friday evening in a non-conference match at Maples Pavilion. Sophomore Nathan Klaas (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 12 kills with two digs. Senior Billy Sahagian (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) hit.438 with eight kills and two block assists. Junior Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) tallied 34 assists with three digs and two aces. Stanford's Evan Romero had a match-high 16 kills and three aces. Stanford out-hit Lewis.391 to.243. "Our passing broke down and it was just a domino affect," head coach Dan Friend said. "We get another crack tomorrow but we'll have to come to the gym with more than we did tonight." Lewis falls to Stanford improves to The same two clubs play once more on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT. No. 7 Stanford Tops No. 9 Men's Volleyball 3-1 Gustavo Cintron records 16 kills-march 8, 2009 STANFORD, Calif. - Three Flyers finished with double-digit kills but No. 7 Stanford beat No. 9 Lewis 3-1 (32-30, 30-25, 27-30, 30-20) in a non-conference match on Saturday evening at Burnham Pavillion. Stanford opened the match on an 8-1 streak but the Flyers used a 5-0 run to claw back in it at The Cardinal held a advantage when four straight Lewis points tied it up. Freshman Gustavo Cintron (Delray Beach, Fla./Spanish River) recorded a kill for the first point. Junior Mike Iandolo (Orlando, Fla./Long Beach State) tallied a solo block for the second. Iandolo set up senior Billy Sahagian (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) for a kill and then Sahagian and Iandolo combined for a block to knot it at 28. The two clubs traded points until Stanford scored points 31 and 32 to take the set. A Drew Pickering (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West) kill tied the second set at 11 before Stanford went on a four-point spurt. Following a Lewis timeout, the Flyers went on a 5-2 run of their own to stay close. The score was tied at 24 when Stanford used a 6-1 stretch to take the set. The Flyers had five separate runs of two or more points in the third set. A 5-0 run gave Lewis a quick 13-9 lead. Cintron had two kills during the stretch. Stanford rallied to grab a advantage but a kill by sophomore Brian Muesenfechter (Florissant, Mo./Christian Brothers) tied it at 21. Two Iandolo aces, with a Muesenfechter solo block sandwiched in between, give Lewis a advantage. Lewis led the fourth set 4-3 before a 7-0 Stanford run put the Cardinal in control. "We picked up our intensity and overall play from last night which was good," head coach Dan Friend said. "We just weren't as efficient offensively as we needed to be against a good defensive team." Cintron finished with a career-high 16 kills and 11 digs. "Gustavo started and provided us with some good defense to get a double-double," Friend said. Pickering also added a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Sahagian hit.360 with 12 kills and five blocks (one solo). Stanford improves to Lewis falls to Lewis hosts Ball State in a crucial conference match on Friday at 7 p.m.

7 CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men s Top 15 Coach s Poll Rank :School Total Points 2009 Record Last Week 1. UC Irvine(15) Cal State Northridge Pepperdine Southern California T-5 5. Long Beach State Stanford T-5 7.Penn State BYU UC San Diego UCLA Lewis UC Santa Barbara Hawai i Ohio State Loyola NR *Receiving votes: Ball State Standings as of February 14, 2009 Conference Won Lost Pct. Overall Won Lost Pct. 1.Ohio State Lewis Ball State IPFW Loyola-Chicago Quincy Page 7

8 *MIVA LEADERS* Hitting Percentage 1.Spurlock, Ben (OSU) Gasparovic, J.D. (BSU) Vigansky, Alex (Lewis) Sahagian, Billy(Lewis) Pickering, Drew (Lewis).404 Digs 1.Perakes,Nicky (Lewis) Berzins, Mik (OSU) Ebel, Billy (BSU) Cooper, Collin (Quincy) Becker, Tommy (Loyola) 2.40 Kills 1.Pickering, Drew (Lewis) Klaas, Nathan (Lewis) Bunting, Mike (Loyola) Klein, Robbie (OSU) Berzins, Krisjanis (Loyola) 3.89 Points 1.Pickering, Drew (Lewis) Bunting, Mike (Loyola) Klaas, Nathan (Lewis) Klein,Robbie (OSU) Albertson, John (OSU) 4.04 Blocks 1.Gasparovic, J.D.(BSU) Albertson, John (OSU) Heine,Kevin (OSU) Berg, Nathaniel (IPFW) Sahagian, Billy (Lewis) 1.16 Assists 1.Mike Iandolo(Lewis) Kehoe,Stevem (OSU) Pheister. Ethan (BSU) Hutz,Michael (Loyola) Page 8

9 Nationally Ranked Team Stats! Match Win-Loss Percentage W L 1) Pepperdine ) Lees-McRae ) UC Irvine ) Cal State Northridge ) Penn St ) Lewis Kills Per Game 1) Cal State Northridge ) Southern California ) Long Beach State ) Pepperdine ) Lewis Let s Go Flyers!

10 Andy Frontz & David Kelnhofer Welcome all you avid newsletter readers. This last month has been one of our busiest. With trips to the east and west coast, our team has really gathered some frequent flyer miles, get it? Anyways after the big home conference win against Loyola we hosted a very fiery St. Ambrose team. They came out ready to play and after the first two games the match was tied 1 1. We made some adjustments though and won games 3 and 4 to close them out. Two days later we played the fast paced offense of St. Francis. However, we came out with a well developed game plan and executed it immaculately, leading to a quick 3 game sweep on Sunday. A few days later we traveled what seemed like 15 hours in a bus to Penn State.We knew that the defending national champs would be tough and they were. We started off very slow and lost the first 2 games but had a solid performance in game three and were able to take a game off of them. It was a great learning experience. The next day we played a crucial conference game at Ohio State. This was a must win if we wanted to host the conference tournament down the road. We were able to play hard and smart and won the match in 4. Next up SPRING BREAK in California. We left early Monday morning for San Francisco. When we got there we were a little disappointed in the weather however it was much better than that of Romeoville. We got to do some sightseeing the first few days because we didn t have a game until Wednesday. Our first match in California was against the 5th ranked division III team in the nation, UC Santa Cruz. They re fast paced offense and scrappy defense caused us some grief. Although we won the match in 4, we were somewhat disappointed with the way we had played. Our next opponent was against volleyball powerhouse, Stanford.We came out very slow in our first match against Stanford and were outplayed offensively and defensively. Even though we made a push in game 2, we were swept in 3. The next day we made some adjustments and came out ready. We were in position to win game 1 with a lead but ended up losing We split games 2 and 3 to give them a 2-1 lead going into game 4. We were up 4-3 in game four but a 7 point run put them in control. We couldn t come back from such a deficit as they just widened the gap to 10 before winning the match. Overall the California trip was good for us as a team as we grew together and recognized the shortcomings we need to improve upon in order to put ourselves in position to go to the Final Four. We have a huge game against Ball State at home next. With a win we can put ourselves in sole possession of first place in the MIVA! See you there. Page 10

11 Lightning Round Andy: Heeeeeey D, What s up D. Happy Birthday. David: Hey Andy, I m glad nobody put plates all over my room. you following me on that? Andy: Eli, here comes a straight away on the right. Get that Garmin over 91.5 David: Squuiiiiirrrrrtttttttaaaahhhhhh! Andy: Hey Chris you bounced that serve, nice. David: Drew, what should Stanford s fans be doing right now? Andy: Studying! David: It s payback Friday, make sure you don t leave your game in your dorm room. Andy: Remember when Stanford pulled their setter when they los that one game against us? David: Yeah, that was weird, why would a team do that? Andy: Hey, quit complaining. David: I can t do it for you. Anonymous Man: Hey what s your room number? David: Ummm, 603. Anonymous Man: There s only 4 floors. David: Goodbye. Page 11

12 Lewis University Men s Volleyball Day Date Opponent Location Tim Fri Jan 16 th Cal Bap (@ BYU) Provo, UT 7:00pm W 3-1 Sat Jan 17 th BYU Provo, UT 7:00pm L 1-3 Wed Jan 21 st Carthage Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-0 Fri Jan 23 rd Lindenwood Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-2 Fri Jan 30 th Ball State Muncie, IN 7:30pm L 0-3 Fri Feb 6 th IPFW Ft. Wayne 7:00pm W 3-0 Sat Feb 7 th Grand Canyon Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-0 Tue Feb 10 th Carthage Kenosha, WI 7:00pm W 3-0 Fri Feb 13th UCLA Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-2 Tue Feb 17 th Loyola Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-1 Fri Feb 20 th St Ambrose Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-1 Sun Feb 22 nd St Francis Romeoville, IL 5:00pm W 3-0 Fri Feb 27 th Penn State State College, PA 7:00pm L 1-3 Sat Feb 28 th Ohio State Columbus, OH 7:00pm W 3-1 Wed Mar 4 th UC Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 7:00pm W 3-1 Fri Mar 6 th Stanford Palo Alto, CA 7:00pm L 0-3 Sat Mar 7 th Stanford Palo Alto, CA 7:00pm L 3-1 Fri Mar 13th Ball State Romeoville, IL 7:00pm W 3-2 Sun Mar 15th NYU Romeoville, IL 5:00pm W 3-0 Sat Mar 21 st Juniata Huntingdon, PA 7:00pm Sun Mar 22 nd St Francis Loretto, PA 2:00pm Thr Mar 26 th George Mason Romeoville, IL 7:00pm Fri Mar 27 th Quincy Romeoville, IL 7:00pm Sun Mar 29 th Rutgers Romeoville, IL 1:00pm Sat Apr 4 th Ohio St Romeoville, IL 7:00pm Wed Apr 8 th Quincy Quincy, IL 7:00pm Wed April 15 th Loyola Chicago, IL 7:00pm Sat Apr 18 th IPFW Romeoville, IL 7:00pm Fri- Apr 24 th -25 th MIVA First Round TBA TBA Sat Thu- Apr 30 th May 2 nd MIVA Semi/Final TBA TBA Sat Thu- May 7 th -9 th NCAA Championships Provo, UT TBA Sat Page 12

13 Our Flyers are Famous! If you cannot make it, follow the Flyers on the internet. The following matches will be broadcasted live. 3/26/2009 George Mason 6:45 pm 3/28/2009 Rutgers 6:45 pm 4/4/2009 Ohio State 6:45 pm 4/18/2009 IPFW 6:45 pm OHIO STATE TO BE TELEVISED ON LAKE SHORE TV APRIL 4th! Page 13

14 Frequent Flyer Club If you have not yet become a member to the Frequent Flyer Club and/or have not received our information packet, please me at friendda@lewisu.edu. We really appreciate all of your donations and support. BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!!!! Page 14