Women's Volleyball Advances To Semifinals With Sweep Of Drury

Nov. 14, 2008

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The No. 25 Lewis University women's volleyball team swept Drury 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 on Friday night to advance to the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament.

"Everyone played harder tonight than we have in a long time," head coach Lorelee Smith said. "They played like they had something to prove."

The Flyers out-blocked the Panthers 14-4. Junior Sara deBuhr (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale), fresh off being named to the All-GLVC third team on Thursday, recorded 10 blocks (3 solos). She also hammered home nine kills.

"Sara blocked like a brick wall tonight," Smith said.

Freshman Colleen Mitros (Mokena, Ill./Providence) hit .600 with a match-high 10 kills. She also added four block assists.

"Colleen played above and beyond what I've seen this year," Smith said. "She was almost flawless through all three sets."

Junior Stephanie Sagat (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) added eight kills and seven digs.

Sophomore Rachel Ruedi (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet Seymour) had 29 assists, six digs and five kills. But her best play of the night may have come before the first serve. After the national anthem failed to play Ruedi stepped up to the microphone and sang a stirring rendition to the delight of a rowdy Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers controlled the pace of all three sets. Drury got within one at 17-16 in the second set, but a Lewis timeout reenergized the Flyers and powered an 8-1 run to take the set. Lewis used five straight points to turn a 7-5 game into a seven point Flyers' advantage. 

Drury's season ends at 12-18. Lewis improves to 29-7, a victory away from their second straight 30-win season.

Lewis now turns their attention to a familiar foe, Indianapolis. The Greyhounds swept Rockhurst on Friday to advance to the semifinals against Lewis at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Flyers have five straight wins over Indianapolis, including a sweep in the conference championship match at Indianapolis last season. The Flyers defeated Indianapolis in an epic five-set match at Neil Carey Arena just two weeks ago. Now the stakes are higher and Lewis' 23-match home win streak is on the line.

"Indianapolis is a really good team top to bottom," Smith said. "They are very fast and they will be out for revenge."

Should the Flyers win they will play in the championship match on Sunday at 2 p.m. Saturday's other semifinal occurs at 5 p.m. when Missouri-St. Louis faces a Southern Indiana squad that upset Northern Kentucky in Friday's first match.

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.

##LEWIS##

 

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