Aug. 30, 2003

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University women's volleyball team racked up a pair of victories at its own Flyer Festival tournament to finish 3-1 in the team's opening weekend of play.

Lewis (3-1) defeated Florida Tech 30-22, 30-28, 30-18, before besting Great Lakes Region foe Hillsdale 30-28, 30-19, 23-30, 30-21 later in the day.

Katie Gilman got the Flyers rolling against Florida Tech (1-3) with a 21-kill, 10-dig performance. Gilman also hit .413 in the three-game sweep.

Lisa Paasch (11 kills, .400 hitting percentage) and Rory Harrison (10 kills, five blocks) provided the Flyers with a strong presence in the middle against Florida Tech.

All inter-region matches play an integral role when NCAA selection time rolls around in the beginning of November, which gave the Hillsdale match added importance.

The Flyers battled through a tough first game and coasted to its game 2 victory before Hillsdale (2-2) took game 3. Tied 16-all in game four, Lewis ticked off an 8-0 scoring run that boosted the team to a near insurmountable 24-16 lead.

Paasch keyed the run with four kills during the stretch. The senior middle hitter closed the match with 15 kills and four blocks, while Gilman tallied a match-high 18 kills with four aces, 12 digs and five blocks.

Maggie Haen recorded 20 digs to lead the Flyer defense.

Gilman averaged 4.7 kills and 3.0 digs per game, and had nine aces and a .273 hitting percentage in the weekend's matches. Harrison also had a solid weekend as she averaged 3.0 kills and 1.4 blocks per game. As a result, the pair's performances earned them all-tournament honors.