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Jonathan Bates | Associate Editor
Lewis will have one of the biggest non-conference matches of the 2020 season played on its home court.
Lewis assistant coach Galen Dodd informed Off the Block that team will play the defending NCAA Tournament finalists Hawai’i on Jan. 17.
This will be Rainbow Warriors’ first trip to Romeoville, Illinois, and enter the match holding a 12-1 edge in the all-time series. This will also be a rematch ofthe 2019 NCAA Tournament semifinals that Hawai’i won in four games.
Lewis’ non-conference schedule will also include two more matches against 2019 conference tournament champions – Barton on Jan. 31 at a neutral site, and Princeton on March 18 at home.
The Flyers will make two trips to the West Coast in 2020, including a pair of matches against Stanford on March 6-7. Off the Block previously picked Stanford as the second-best team in way too early projected top-10 for 2020.
Lewis will also play a challenging MIVA conference schedule starting with a home match against McKendree on Feb. 7.
The Flyers lost four starters off last year’s team, including MIVA Player of the Year, setter Matt Yoshimoto.
Lewis returns both middle attackers – TJ Murray and Tyler Mitchem — as well as outside attacker Ryan Coenen. Both Coenen and Mitchem were named to the 2019 All-American Second Team.
Lewis head coach Dan Friend was named MIVA Co-Coach of the Year last season, along with McKendree head coach Nickie Sanlin.
The Flyers ranked fourth nationally last year averaging 1.78 aces per game, 2.55 blocks per game, and had a 0.218 opponent attack percentage. Mitchem was tops in the nation with a 0.504 attack percentage and 12th nationally with 1.08 blocks per game average.
Friend will release the full schedule later this year.