Off the Block announces Lewis All-Decade Starting Lineup

The best Lewis players at their positions during the decade are receiving a college men’s volleyball honor.

Off the Block announced on Monday the seven players selected to the Lewis All-Decade Starting Lineup presented by Off the Block.

The All-Decade Starting Lineup recognizes the best players to compete with a team since 2010. Similar to the starting lineup for a match, the All-Decade honor is comprised of a setter, opposite and libero along with two outside attackers and middle attackers.

The Off the Block staff determined the All-Decade Starting Lineup using a variety of factors including career statistical performance and the team’s overall success when a player was a member of the program.

This is also part of a series from Off the Block to celebrate the end of the decade in college men’s volleyball. Off the Block throughout the rest of 2019 will release an All-Decade Starting Lineup for every NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team.

Lewis ended the decade twice winning the MIVA championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament four times.

Off the Block is a national award winning website that was established in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball.

Lewis All-Decade Starting Lineup presented by Off the Block

Setter: BJ Boldog
Opposite: Mitch Perinar
Outside attacker: Geoff Powell
Outside attacker: Ryan Coenen
Middle attacker: Tyler Mitchem
Middle attacker: Bobby Walsh
Libero: Michael Simmons
Coming off the bench: Greg Petty, Jay Petty, Matt Yoshimoto

BJ Boldog (2011-14)
Awards and honors: 2011 Second-Team All-MIVA, 2012 Second-Team All-American, 2012 First-Team All-MIVA, 2012 MIVA All-Tournament, 2013 Second-Team All-American, 2013 First-Team All-MIVA, 2013 MIVA All-Tournament, 2014 Second-Team All-American, 2014 First-Team All-MIVA, 2014 MIVA All-Tournament
Boldog set the program’s rally scoring era record with 4,385 career assists in his four seasons as the team’s starting setter. In his senior season, Boldog guided the offense to the nation’s third-best attack percentage at .328 as the Flyers became the second non-West Coast team in college men’s volleyball history to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. He also led Lewis to a national top five attack percentage at .321 in 2012 and helped the team win its first MIVA championship in almost a decade. Along with his offensive performance, Boldog finished ninth in program history with 338 career blocks.

Ryan Coenen (2016 – present)
Awards and honors: 2017 National Newcomer of the Year, 2017 Second-Team All-American, 2017 Freshman All-American, 2017 Co-MIVA Freshman of the Year, 2017 First-Team All-MIVA, 2017 MIVA All-Freshman Team, 2018 Second-Team All-American, 2018 Division II National Player of the Year finalist, 2018 First-Team All-MIVA, 2019 Second-Team All-American, 2019 First-Team All-MIVA, 2019 MIVA All-Tournament Team
With one season remaining in his college career, Coenen has already become the 10th player in program history to surpass the 1,000th career kills milestone. The outside attacker finished the 2018 season leading the conference and ninth in the nation with a 3.79 kills per game average, including having a season-high 21 kills on a .514 attack percentage in a regular season sweep against Ohio State. Conen also ended last season among the MIVA and national leaders averaging 3.25 kills per game en route to helping the Flyers reach the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Along with his offensive performance, Coenen is eighth in program history with 99 aces.

Tyler Mitchem (2017 – present)
Awards and honors: 2018 Freshman All-American, 2018 Second-Team All-MIVA, 2018 MIVA All-Freshman Team, 2019 Ryan Millar Award finalist, 2019 Dain Blanton Diversity Award finalist, Second-Team All-American, 2019 First-Team All-MIVA
Mitchem ended last season leading the nation with a .504 attack percentage highlighted by a combined 19 kills while hitting .485 in two NCAA Tournament matches. The middle attacker through his first two college seasons is third in program history with a .458 career attack percentage and has double-digit kills in 12 matches. To accompany his offensive performance, Mitchem had a 1.08 blocks per game average during the 2019 season. This was the second consecutive year that Mitchem was in the nation’s top 15 for blocks.

Mitch Perinar (2015-19)
Awards and honors: 2016 All-American Honorable Mention, 2016 MIVA Freshman of the Year, 2016 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2017 All-American Honorable Mention, 2017 First-Team All-MIVA, 2018 Second-Team All-MIVA
Perinar concluded his time at Lewis with a career .319 attack percentage and in the program’s top 15 all-time with 925 career kills. The opposite was in the conference’s top 10 for kills in back-to-back seasons, including having a career-high 3.18 kills per game average as a sophomore. Despite missing the first half of his senior season, Perinar returned to the court and helped lead the Flyers back to the NCAA Tournament. Perinar also had 13 kills on a .393 attack percentage along with seven blocks in a four-game victory against USC in the NCAA Tournament opening round.

Geoff Powell (2012-15)
Awards and honors: 2012 MIVA Freshman of the Year, 2012 NCAA All-Tournament Team, 2012 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2013 Second-Team All-American, 2013 First-Team All-MIVA, 2013 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2014 First-Team All-American, 2014 First-Team All-MIVA, 2014 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2015 First-Team All-American, 2015 First-Team All-MIVA, 2015 NCAA All-Tournament Team, 2015 MIVA All-Tournament Team
Powell is fourth all-time in program history and second during the rally scoring era with 1,368 career kills. The outside attacker finished each of his final three seasons in the nation’s top 30 for kills, including having a career-high 3.89 kills per game average in 2014. Powell was in the conference’s top 10 as a junior and senior hitting more than .325. He also led the Flyers to three NCAA Tournament appearances and had 20 kills and two aces in the 2015 NCAA Tournament finals.

Michael Simmons (2016-19)
Awards and honors: 2017 All-American Honorable Mention, 2017 First-Team All-MIVA, 2018 All-American Honorable Mention, 2018 First-Team All-MIVA, 2018 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2019 All-American Honorable Mention, 2019 First-Team All-MIVA
Simmons concluded his time at Lewis third in the program’s history with 836 career digs. The four-year starting libero was in the conference’s top three for digs in each of his final three seasons, including having a career-high 2.40 digs per game average in 2018. In addition, Simmons in his senior season was in the nation’s top 15 averaging 2.21 digs per game and had a season-high 17 digs in the team’s NCAA Tournament opening round victory against USC.

Bobby Walsh (2013-16)
Awards and honors: 2013 Second-Team All-MIVA, 2014 Second-Team All-MIVA, 2014 MIVA All-Tournament Team, 2015 National Blocker of the Year, 2015 Second-Team All-American, 2015 First-Team All-MIVA, 2016 First-Team All-American, 2016 First-Team All-MIVA, 2016 MIVA All-Tournament Team
Walsh holds the program record with a .474 career attack percentage and holds the program’s rally scoring era record 556 career blocks. In each of his four seasons, Walsh hit more than .450 and had more than 125 blocks. The middle attacker in 2015 lead the nation with a 1.54 blocks per game average and had a career-best .490 attack percentage as Lewis reached the NCAA Tournament finals. This also was the second straight season that Walsh finished in the nation’s top five for blocks.