Sept. 1, 2005
Final Stats
ROMEOVILLE, Ill.--Hosting its annual Labor Day Weekend tournament, the Lewis University women's volleyball team opened play in the Flyer Festival with a five-set victory over Michigan Tech.
Lewis improved its record to 5-0 with a 30-22, 27-30, 30-20, 26-30, 15-11 victory over the Huskies (3-2).
Junior Sarah McKinney led the way with 20 kills, 16 digs and five blocks, while hitting .349. Freshman Aubrey Dondlinger also added 20 kills and chipped in with two aces and seven digs.
The opening game provided foreshadowing for what was to come the rest of the night. The teams played evenly for most of the game until Lewis broke a 20-all tie with an eight-point scoring run sparked by the serving of senior Abby Hodge. The burst gave the Flyers enough separation to coast to its 30-22 win.
Staked with a 25-20 lead, Lewis had a chance to take a commanding two-games-to none lead, but Michigan Tech stormed back and seven of the next eight points to take a 27-26 lead. Jen Jung and Rosalyn Robinson capped the run with a block. Jung then added a kill on the ensuing play to pick up the two-point margin needed for victory.
Lewis dominated play in game 3, leading by as many as 14 points before settling in for a 30-20 win.
Game 4 was a see-saw battle that had Lewis leading 25-24. However, Michigan Tech answered once again, scoring six of the next seven points for the 30-26 win.
MTU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in game 5, but Lewis tallied six straight points to take an 8-5 lead into the changeover. The run was highlighted by two Dondlinger kills, a McKinney kill and a kill and a block from sophomore Becca Lisle.
Lewis never relinquished the lead in the fifth game even as MTU drew within a point at 11-10. The matched ended on a hitting error by MTU's Kali Jeter.
Jenna Sayers was the only other Lewis player to reach double digits in kills. The sophomore middle hitter posted 11 kills and a team-high seven blocks in the win.
Setter Andrea Morrone passed out 51 assists and tied her career high with 22 digs. Hodge posted a team-high 23 digs and set the deciding fifth game after Morrone exited with an injury.
Michigan Tech was led by Jeter's 13 kills, 18 digs and five blocks. Jung added eight kills and a match-high 10 blocks. Robinson (12 kills, six blocks) and Taryn Franznick (12 kills, eight digs) also contributed for MTU.
Lewis hit .179 for the match, while MTU hit .139. The Flyers won the dig battle 97-79, but lost the edge in blocks 18-10.
In other tournament action, Winona State (Minn.) upset 21st-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.) 15-30, 30-16, 26-30, 30-24, 15-9.
The Flyers return to action in the Flyer Festival with a pair of matches Friday night. Lewis takes on Minnesota State-Moorhead at 5 p.m. and Saint Leo at 7 p.m. In addition, seven other matches will be played on three courts beginning at 3 p.m.
