Men's volleyball's Karbiener and Varney sweep MIVA honors
MIVA players of the week: Lewis men’s volleyball juniors Ian Karbiener and Eric Varney swept the MIVA awards. Karbiener has been named MIVA Offensive Player of the Week, while Varney earned the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week selection. | Photo by Steve Woltmann
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis men's volleyball junior opposite hitter Ian Karbiener (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) and junior libero Eric Varney (Oak Park, Calif./Oak Park/Moorpark CC) have swept the weekly Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association awards. Karbiener has been named the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week. Varney earned the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week selection.
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Lewis' only match last week was a 37-35, 25-19, 25-20 decision over then No. 12 Loyola. The win broke a six-match losing streak to the Ramblers for the No. 7 Flyers.
Karbiener totaled 14 kills and hit .407 (14-3-27) against the Ramblers. He also tallied six digs, a pair of block assists and an ace to average 5.33 points-per-set. With his 14-kill effort, Karbiener climbed to 10th in the MIVA with a 2.85 kills-per-set average for the season. In league play, he ranks fourth in the MIVA in kills-per-set (4.27) and seventh in hitting percentage (.381).
Varney paced the Lewis defense with 16 digs and helped limit Loyola to a .145 (40-24-110) hitting mark, below their season average of .255 entering the week. In addition, his 16 digs were the most in a three-set match for the Flyers since Nick Perakes recorded 16 at Clarke Feb. 9, 2006. Varney also posted a .963 reception percentage in the match, as he successfully passed 26 of the 27 serves he faced. With his 5.33 digs-per-set average last week, Varney raised his season average to 2.10 which ranks fifth in the MIVA.
The honor is Varney's second MIVA Defensive Player of the Week of the season. Already in 2012 Lewis has won four MIVA Player of the Week honors.
"It's great for Ian and Eric as well as the team," Lewis head coach Dan Friend said. "The guys played a fantastic match and Eric and Ian were a big catalyst for our play. Ian has been really consistent at a high level for us. Eric has stepped it up to another level by receiving this award for the second time."
Lewis is 8-3 and 2-1 in the MIVA. The Flyers are at NJIT on Friday and George Mason on Saturday.
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