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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Despite the most digs in a match in seven years, Lewis women's volleyball fell to Missouri S&T 3-2 (13-25, 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 15-12) on Thursday (Nov. 13) in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. Lewis entered as the No. 2 seed in the East Division and Missouri S&T was the No. 3 seed in the West.
 
Lewis' 117 digs on Thursday are the most in a match since the Flyers had 132 against Indianapolis Nov. 16, 2007 in the NCAA Tournament. Worth noting, in 2007 the NCAA was still playing up to 30 points in a set.
 
The Flyers held statistical edges in most categories, including kills (60-54), hitting percentage (.151-.123), aces (7-3), blocks (12-9) and digs (117-101). However those totals were boosted by a dominating first set win for the Flyers. Lewis received a big early boost from junior Alexis Davito (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport). She had three aces in an 8-0 run to give the Flyers an 8-1 lead.
 
The rest of the sets were closer. However despite the length of the match, the contest featured only three lead changes.

Missouri S&T used a 6-0 run midway through the second set to help even the match at one. The third set saw Lewis grab an 8-3 lead on a kill by Davito. A 6-1 Miners push tied the score up at nine. Lewis pushed back and eventually took a 17-13 lead. However the Flyers scored only five more points in the frame. Lewis still had a 19-17 advantage late in the set when Missouri S&T went on a 4-0 to take the lead for good.
 
While Lewis answered back with an impressive seven-point win in the fourth set, they couldn't complete the comeback. The fifth set quickly went to the Miners. Missouri S&T's 4-0 run to go up 6-2 would be all the cushion the Miners would need.
 
Davito finished with 14 kills, four aces and a career-high 14 digs. Her four aces gave her 45 on the season, a new rally scoring era single-season record for the Flyers. Senior Kim Vertin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) recorded 12 kills and a career-high 26 digs. Junior Cassidy Parsons (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) totaled 12 kills and 17 digs. Freshman Aly Schneider (Granger, Ind./Penn) had 12 kills and nine blocks (one solo). Senior Leigh Barea (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) recorded 50 assists and 17 digs. Sophomore Nicole Yuede (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) totaled a career-high 31 digs.

"That's a really tough loss to take," Lewis head coach Lorelee Smith said. "When you outplay an opponent in all categories and don't finish with a win it can be a struggle to rebound. If given the chance in the NCAA Tournament I hope we can add even more fight after today."

Missouri S&T improves to 18-12. Lewis falls to 22-7. Lewis' loss snaps a streak of nine consecutive trips to the GLVC Tournament Semifinals. The Flyers entered the GLVC Tournament ranked No. 7 in the Midwest Region. The top eight teams qualify. Lewis will now wait to see if they earn an NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament berth. The bids will be announced Sunday (Nov. 16) evening.