PITTSBURGH – The 25th ranked Lewis women's volleyball team fell to second ranked Western Washington in the Division II Final Four in four sets on Friday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
Lewis was held to a .116 hitting percentage while the Vikings (30-3) hit .247 in the match. Colleen Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) led the Flyers with 14 kills while Caroline Stefanon (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and Elizabeth Hyland (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) finished with 10 kills each. Abby Becker (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) distributed 41 assists and had 23 digs.
 
Kayleigh Harper led Western Washington with 15 kills while Alison Davenport and Michaela Hall added 13 and 11 kills respectively. Brette Boesel finished with 51 assists and Abby Phelps had a match-high 27 digs.
 
The opening set was tied at 16 when Lewis took control with a 4-1 run to build its largest lead of the match at 21-17. The Vikings answered by scoring three of the next four points to cut the Flyer lead to 22-20 on a service from Taylor Lyall.
 
Lewis bounced back getting a kill from Wilhelm and then Stefanon stuffed Hall at the net to set up set point. Western Washington fought off the first set point but not a second as Wilhelm recorded her fourth kill of the frame to give the Flyers the 25-21 set win.
 
Lewis led early in set two before Western Washington seized control with a 9-0 run. The Flyers fought back to within 12-8 after a kill from Stefanon but that was the closest they got the rest of the set as the Vikings outscored Lewis 13-5 the rest of the set to even the match at a set apiece.
 
The third set was tied at six when Western Washington ran off seven in a row to take control. The Flyers fought back scoring seven of the next 11 points to trim the Viking lead to 17-14 on a kill from Alexandra Preuss (Elmhurst, Ill./York) but the Vikings closed the set on an 8-3 run to win 25-17 on a kill from Gabby Gunterman.
 
Lewis took an early lead in set four but were unable to overcome a 5-0 run from Western Washington. The Flyers cut the deficit to three points four different times before the Vikings pulled away scoring six of nine points to extend their lead to 17-11. Lewis wouldn't get closer than six points the rest of the match as Western Washington closed it out with the 25-16 win.
 
The Flyers finish their season with a record of 29-8 and their second Midwest Region title in the last three years.