SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The sixth ranked Lewis women's volleyball team picked up its third straight win with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) victory against Cal State San Marcos at the Cougar Classic in San Marcos, Calif., on Friday night. Three Flyers (3-0) reached double figure kill totals led by
Elizabeth Hyland (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) with 11.
The Cougars (2-1) opened the match scoring four of the first five points but Lewis came back with a 10-4 run to grab an 11-8 after a kill from Hyland. The two sides traded points as Cal State San Marcos came back to take a 20-19 lead on a kill from Olivia Aguilar. The Flyers took advantage of a service error to even it up at 20 and rode that momentum to a 25-21 opening set win.
Hyland and
Tori Foster (Munster, Ind./Munster) combined for half of Lewis' 16 kills in the opening set.
The Flyers used an 8-4 run early in the middle set to extend their lead to 12-7. The Cougars fought back to within 14-12 but that was the closest they got as Lewis responded scoring five of the next six points to build a 19-13 advantage. CSUSM cut the deficit to 19-17 but the Flyers held firm scoring six of the final nine points to win 25-20 and take the commanding 2-0 lead.
Lewis led by as many as six points in the final frame and appeared to be cruising towards the victory but the Cougars refused to go quietly scoring three straight points to make it 24-23 and force the Flyers to take a timeout. Lewis would hang on for the victory as Maddy Newcombe hit one long on the back line to end the match.
The Flyers had an attack percentage of .268 (48 kills/14 errors/127 attacks) for the match. Hyland led all players in kills and was joined in double figures by Foster and
Alexandra Preuss (Elmhurst, Ill./York) with 10 each.
Abby Becker (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) dished out 38 assists while
Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) had a match-high 22 digs.
Cal State San Marcos was held to a .150 hitting percentage (40 kills/20 errors/133 chances) in the contest. Aguilar and Micah Hebert had 10 kills apiece for the Cougars. Aleese Wheaton handed out 19 assists while Newcombe finished with 14 digs.
Lewis concludes its trip to California with a match against Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CDT).
