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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Behind 22 kills from junior Colleen Mitros (Mokena, Ill./Providence Catholic) (Mokena, Ill./Providence Catholic) and 21 digs by sophomore Amy Choi (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills), No. 15 Lewis women's volleyball opened the 2011 season with a 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 20-25, 25-20) victory at Eckerd on Thursday.

Mitros' 22 kills is a career high. She hit .444 while adding seven digs. She was one of 10 Flyers to record a kill.

Eckerd scored the first five points of the match. Lewis finally tied it at 13. Lewis took the lead for good after taking a 17-15 lead on a three-point push. Senior Danielle Mount (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) had an ace in the run.

Lewis scored the first four points in the second set, only to see Eckerd score the next three. The Tritons looked to be pulling away late in the frame by grabbing a 21-19 advantage. However, back the Flyers came with three straight points and five of the next six tallies. Eckerd denied one Lewis set point to tie it at 24, but the Flyers scored the next two. Mitros and senior Hannah Koeneman (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) had the kills.

The Flyers were 10 points away from sweeping Eckerd after leading 15-11 in the third set. A 9-1 Eckerd run meant the squads would go to a fourth set.

It was just a one-point contest in the fourth set until Lewis finished on an 8-2 stretch to win the match.

Lewis out-hit Eckerd .311 to .207. The Flyers never hit below .225 in a set while Eckerd was sub .200 twice.

“We played really scrappy defense all night,” head coach Lorelee Smith said. “I told the team that they played like they really wanted to win and hated to lose. That's nice because I wasn't sure we would have that.”

Freshman Leigh Barea (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) had 20 assists and sophomore Vivian Pritz (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Township) (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Township/Edinboro) recorded 14.

Lewis travels to the University of Tampa on Friday. The Flyers will play Colorado Christian at 3:30 p.m. ET and then face No. 4 Tampa at 8 p.m. ET.