Sept. 27, 2008

Box Score
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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - After six straight sweeps, the No. 21 Flyers rediscovered on Saturday afternoon that you can lose a couple sets and still win a match. Behind double-digit kills by three Flyers, Lewis stayed perfect in the Great Lakes Valley Conference by defeating Rockhurst 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-7).

"It was our first five set match of the year and it was nice to see the girls' energy and focus in the final set," head coach Lorelee Smith said.

From the start of set one it was clear this was going to be a barnburner. The Flyers took a 7-2 lead and forced an early Hawks' timeout. Six straight points by Rockhurst gave them the lead. Late in the set, Lewis held a 23-18 lead when Rockhurst responded with four points to get within one. But kills by sophomores Rachel Ruedi (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet Seymour) and Danielle Mount (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) put the set away.

The Flyers never led in set two, but responded by never trailing in the third set victory. The end of the second set saw junior Sara deBuhr (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) inserted in the lineup. She made an immediate difference. deBuhr hit .500 and finished with 10 kills and two blocks (one solo) to provide a boost to the Lewis offense.

"deBuhr stepped up offensively today and it really helped," Smith said.

Rockhurst led throughout most of set four but Lewis did get within one point five separate times. However the Flyers could get no closer and a 5-1 stretch by Rockhurst pushed the Flyers to their first five set match of the season. It was also the first five set match at Neil Carey Arena under the Smith regime.

Set five was all Lewis, taking 7-2 lead and never looking back. Junior Stephanie Sagat (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) had three kills in the final set. Ruedi recorded two kills, and two of her three aces.

Mount finished with 15 kills, a .343 hitting percentage and four block assists.

"Up to this point Danielle has been our big defensive presence but today she played exceptional on offense," Smith said.

Sagat had a kill-dig double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. She was one of four Flyers to finish with double-digit digs. Ruedi had 10 and sophomore Lauren Seliga (St. Louis, Mo. /Nerinix) totaled 11. Ruedi set a new career high with 50 assists. She also added six kills.  Senior Lauren Hatter recorded 13 digs and two aces.

"Lauren serve-received exceptionally well today," Smith said. "She allowed use to feed the ball to the hitters that best attacked Rockhurst's defense."

The Flyers out-hit the Hawks .190 to .109 with 34 additional attack attempts (163-129). Lewis had 11 aces, but also 19 service errors.

"We missed 19 serves. Last time we did that, we lost," Smith said. "We were aggressive, but we shouldn't miss 19."

The Flyers improve to 14-3 (6-0 GLVC). Rockhurst falls to 10-6 (5-2 GLVC). Lewis hosts Southern Indiana on Friday.

 

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##