NCAA Tournament Bracket
Regional Tournament Website
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The No. 17 Lewis women's volleyball team will make its sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship this weekend when the No. 5 seed Flyers take on No. 4 Northern Kentucky at 5 p.m. ET on Friday. The Midwest Regional will be hosted by Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich for a second-straight season.
Lewis' sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament is the longest active streak in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Flyers earned an at-large bid into the 64-team tournament after a top-8 ranking in the Midwest Region. The Flyers fell to Indianapolis, 3-2, in the GLVC Championship on Sunday. Lewis has finished first or second in the GLVC since 2006, with four championships.
Three Flyers enter the NCAA Tournament coming following career-best performances. Senior Hannah Koeneman (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) recorded a career-high 31 kills against Indianapolis on Sunday. Her total is the highest for a Flyer since Colleen Quinlan tallied 31 kills against Alaska-Fairbanks in 1996. Sophomore Amy Choi (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) totaled a rally scoring era 34 digs while freshman Leigh Barea (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) added a career-best 64 assists. Barea needs just 47 assists to reach 1,000 for the season.
The Flyers (25-6, 15-3 GLVC) defeated Northern Kentucky (25-5, 14-4 GLVC) twice in the regular season with a 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-19, 25-19) win on September 24th in Romeoville and a 3-2 (20-25, 8-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-13) decision on October 21st in Highland Heights.
NKU is led by All-GLVC First Team selection setter Jenna Schreiver and All-GLVC Second Team selections outside hitters Sarah Drennen and Noelle Peterson.
Other first round matchups include No. 1 Hillsdale vs. No. 8 Missouri S&T, No. 2 Ferris State vs. No. 7 Saginaw Valley State, and No. 3 Indianapolis vs. No. 6 Southern Indiana. The top five seeds in the Midwest Region are all ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Poll.
The winner of the Lewis/Northern Kentucky match will take on the winner of Hillsdale/Missouri S&T. The winner of Ferris State/Saginaw Valley State will face Indianapolis/Southern Indiana winner in the round of 32 on Saturday. The regional championship will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
Last season, the Flyers dropped a 3-1 decision to Grand Valley State in the second round after an opening round victory over Missouri-St. Louis. Lewis head coach Lorelee Smith owns a 5-4 record in NCAA Tournament matches with Sweet 16 appearances in 2007 and 2009.
