March 30, 2007

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Jared Dayton posted a match-high 26 kills, hitting .422, as the Flyers pushed No. 7 Ohio State to the limit in a thrilling five-set match Friday night at Neil Carey Arena, but the visitors claimed a 31-29, 28-30, 30-26, 24-30, 15-12 win.

The Buckeyes won for an 11th straight game, improving to 18-1 (7-0) on the season. Lewis slipped to 15-10 (5-5).

Down two games to one, the Flyers put forth their best effort in game four, hitting .520 while limiting the Buckeyes to a .143 showing, their worst single-game hitting percentage in the match.

The fifth and deciding game went back and forth for the first few points before Ohio State collected three consecutive points to turn a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 lead.

Lewis kept battling but couldn't get any closer than two points the rest of the way. The Buckeyes' lead was 13-11 when Brett Versen slammed home a kill for the 14th point, but a service error on the next point kept the Flyers alive. Receiving the serve from Lewis, the Buckeyes were able to find Sam Stevens for the match-clinching kill.

Dayton posted 29 points for the match, adding seven digs, four block assists and one ace. David Kelnhofer collected 11 kills and one ace. Alex Vigansky hit .500 with nine kills and four block assists, and Drew Pickering also had nine kills. Billy Sahagian registered eight kills behind a .538 hitting effort, and he came up with four assisted blocks. Nick Perakes led Lewis with nine digs.

Robbie Klein paced the Buckeyes with 17 kills. He was joined in double figures by John Albertson (14 kills) and Versen (13 kills). Conor Martin collected a match-best 10 digs.

Lewis out-hit the Buckeyes .346 (67-20-136) to .294 (66-26-136) and held a 9.5 to 6.5 edge in blocks. Ohio State displayed strong defense all night and led in total digs 40-31.

The Flyers will look to rebound against Rutgers-Newark on Saturday night.