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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – No. 23 Lewis women's volleyball knocked off No. 5 Rockhurst 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-12) on Saturday (Nov. 21) in the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Semifinals at the East Side Centre.
 
The win advances Lewis to the 2015 GLVC Championship on Sunday (Nov. 22) at noon. The Flyers will face Indianapolis. The two clubs are no strangers to meeting in the GLVC title game. The Flyers topped the Greyhounds in 2007 and 2010. Indianapolis defeated Lewis 2009 and 2011. This season, Lewis is 2-0 against the Greyhounds with both wins coming in three sets.

Rockhurst entered the match having not lost in GLVC play all season. They had dropped only three sets total to GLVC foes, two of them coming to Lewis in Rockhurst's five-set win over the Flyers on Oct. 30 at Neil Carey Arena.

It took plenty of work on Saturday for the Flyers to beat the Hawks. Lewis dropped the first set to Rockhurst before rallying to win the next two. Things were getting stressful in the second when Lewis took a timeout, trailing 16-13. Whatever Lewis head coach Lorelee Smith said in the huddle paid off, as the Flyers went on a 7-2 run to grab a 20-18 lead. The Flyers led 23-20 before Rockhurst scored three straight to knot it up. But senior Alexis Davito (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) and sophomore Aly Schneider (Granger, Ind./Penn) followed with kills to tie the match at one.

The third set went down the same way. Lewis led 23-19, before four straight Rockhurst points tied it at 23. Lewis took a timeout, and this time it was kills by senior Cassidy Parsons (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) and freshman Elizabeth Hyland (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) that gave the frame to the Flyers with kills.

After dropping the fourth set, the two clubs went to the fifth looking for a berth in the championship. The difference came early in the set. Four straight Lewis points put the Flyers up 7-3. Sophomore Maddie Seliga (St. Louis, Mo./Nerinx Hall) had a kill for point seven. From there, Rockhurst advanced no closer than two points. Up 14-12, Lewis took a timeout following a Rockhurst kill. After the break the Flyers went to Seliga for point 15.

It was a balanced attack for the Flyers and four Lewis student-athletes had double-digit kills. Hyland led the way with 19 kills while adding 20 digs. Seliga had 14 kills and 18 digs. Schneider hit .333 with 14 kills and six blocks (two solo). Davito totaled 11 kills.

"We did so well at playing balanced," Smith said. "I think we had some early nerves but fought through them. This is a really fun team to be a part of."

Lewis out-hit Rockhurst .240 to .211.

Fans can watch Sunday's championship match online on the GLVCSN for no charge.

Rockhurst falls to 31-3. Lewis improves to 29-4. The Flyers are now 7-3 in five-set matches this season.