No. 21 Women's Volleyball Wins 23rd Straight Home Match In Five Over No. 25 Indianapolis

Nov. 1, 2008

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The No. 21 Flyers won their second five-set match in as many days by defeating No. 25 Indianapolis 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-9) on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers have now won seven of the last eight meetings between the two rivals.

"It was a fabulous win. Last time we played Indy here, they beat us. We had to wait over a year to rectify that and make it feel like our gym again," head coach Lorelee Smith said.

With the majority of the crowd decked out in black, the Flyers started hot, taking a 17-13 lead in set one. But as expected the Greyhounds rallied back and tied it at 19. Lewis grabbed a 22-20 lead on a kill by sophomore Kim Richards (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley) and a Greyhounds' attack error. The Greyhounds countered with a 4-1 run to earn set point at 24-23. Two straight kills by junior Sara deBuhr (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) gave Lewis set point. The Flyers didn't waste the opportunity. Freshman Colleen Mitros (Mokena, Ill./Providence) came up with a huge solo block to get the victory.

Despite the wind at the Flyers' back, their momentum didn't continue in the second set. The Flyers rallied back from a 22-15 score to fall by four.

Set three seemed more like the continuation of set one, with the Flyers taking a 12-9 lead thanks to 6-0 run. The Flyers stayed hot into the fourth set, opening it on a 7-0 run. Then suddenly it was all Greyhounds. Indianapolis went on an 11-2 run and took the momentum into the final set.

The Flyers benefited from two early service errors and used those gifts to jump out to a 10-5 lead. deBuhr and Mitros registered the final two kills for the Flyers' win. The Flyers hit .409 with 10 kills in the fifth set.

deBuhr and Mitros each tallied a team-high 13 kills. deBuhr tallied five blocks (one solo).

"Sara had another really good performance. She was a stud last night and was able to repeat it today knowing Indianapolis was going to key in on her," Smith said.

Mitros added seven digs and two blocks (one solo).

"On the flip side, Colleen didn't have the greatest night last night but turned it around today and came with everything she had," Smith said.

Richards was a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Senior Lauren Hatter (Avon, Ind./Avon) added 18 digs. Senior Justina Begemann (Odessa, Mo./Odessa) contributed seven kills and 16 digs. Sophomore Rachel Ruedi (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet Seymour) recorded 44 assists, 13 digs, six kills and two aces.

"Our backcourt defense almost matched the best defensive team in the conference today," Smith said the Flyers' season-high 80 digs. "We're better in the backcourt now than we were when the season began."

The Greyhounds committed 11 errors with only one ace. The Flyers notched seven aces with six errors.  

The Flyers have won 23 home matches in a row. If the Flyers win on Tuesday against UW-Parkside they will finish the 2008 regular season a perfect 16-0 at home. Tuesday is Senior Night for the Flyers.

A Catholic University sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The mid-sized university is being honored for the fifth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. For more information please visit www.lewisu.edu.

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