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INDIANAPOLIS – They say defense wins championships. No. 17 nationally Lewis women's volleyball will get a chance to see if that is true. The Flyers used 85 digs and 15 blocks in their 3-1 (27-29, 25-17, 25-20, 25-11) victory over Missouri S&T on Saturday evening in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Semifinals. The win advances Lewis to their sixth consecutive GLVC Championship match.
 
“Following game one, we had to adjust to their quickness,” head coach Lorelee Smith said. “We stepped it up both on blocking and back row defense which I was really happy with.”
 
Lewis is the No. 2 seed in the GLVC Tournament while the Miners were the No. 3 seed. The tournament is being hosted by Indianapolis at the Ruth Lilly Center.

Sunday's championship will start at 2 p.m. ET. The Flyers will play top seed Indianapolis. It will be the third consecutive season Lewis and Indianapolis meet in the GLVC Championship match. The Flyers and Greyhounds split their two matches this season.
 
Five Flyers recorded double-digit digs with sophomore Amy Choi (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) leading the Flyers with 23.
 
Offensively, senior Danielle Mount (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) recorded a career-high 20 kills on .500 hitting. She had just one hitting error in 38 attempts.
 
Junior Jillian Carlberg (Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee) (Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee) recorded a career-high 10 blocks with one solo. Junior Jen Krumwiede (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial/IPFW) turned in a double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs. She recorded 10 of her kills in the final two sets.
 
The Flyers hit at a .298 clip thanks to the Lewis offense run by freshman setter Leigh Barea (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek). The rookie recorded 49 assists while chipping in 11 digs and three kills.
 
The closest of the four sets was the first. A three-point run gave the Flyers a 20-19 lead and forced Missouri S&T to take the first timeout of the match. Carlberg had a block for point 20. Lewis earned set point at 24-22 before S&T scored two straight points. S&T turned away another Lewis set point at 25-24 before winning the frame 29-27.
 
An 8-0 run in the second set gave Lewis some early breathing room. The third and fourth set didn't possess a single lead change. An 18-9 advantage in the third set and a 14-4 lead in the fourth were enough cushion for the Flyers to cruise to wins in both frames. Missouri S&T hit .300 in the first set, however Lewis limited the Miners to .000, .143 and -.050 hitting in the final sets, respectively.
 
Missouri S&T falls to 24-9. Lewis improves to 25-5.
 
A win on Sunday in the GLVC Championship would be the ninth conference title in the Lewis women's volleyball history. It would also be a GLVC record for titles for one program.