SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Lewis' 12th ranked Lewis women's volleyball team knocked off Drury in a five set thriller on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo. The Flyers improve to 24-4, 10-3 GLVC while the Panthers fall to 17-13, 11-2 GLVC.

Lewis trailed 11-7 in the final set before ending the match on an 8-0 run to win the set 15-11 and avoid the upset. Drury opened the door with a service error and then Alexandra Preuss (Elmhurst, Ill./York) served the next seven points in the run. Lewis' defense forced three Panther attack errors in the run which included a double block from Tori Foster (Munster, Ind./Munster) and Colleen Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) to set up match point. Preuss finished it off with her second ace of the run to end the match.

The Flyers won the opening set 25-18 using an 8-4 run to extend a 13-10 lead to 21-14. Drury got within 21-17 but Lewis closed the set out scoring four of the final five points. Preuss had five kills in the frame while Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) added three. The Flyers hit .167 in the stanza while holding the Panthers to .000 attack percentage.

The second set featured 14 ties and eight lead changes with Drury coming out on top 25-23. Lewis held a 23-22 lead but the Panthers scored the final three points to take the frame and even the match at set apiece.

Lewis led by as many as 11 in the middle set but Drury went on an 8-3 run to cut the Flyer lead to 23-17 and force a Flyer timeout. Lewis finished the set off scoring two of the final three points.

The Panthers dominated the fourth set scoring the first five points of the stanza and led by as many as 14 points. Drury hit .278 in the frame while holding the Flyers to a negative .045 hitting percentage.

Lewis recorded 62 kills in the contest against 34 errors in 205 total attacks to finish the match with an attack percentage of .137. Wilhelm tied her career-high with 20 kills to lead three Flyers in double figures. Van Loo added 12 kills while Preuss finished with 10. Mikah Freppon (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and Haley Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) had 24 assists apiece and Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) had 27 digs.

The Flyer defense held the Panthers to a .110 hitting percentage (47/27/181). Taylor Forth and Regan Dennis had nine kills each to lead Drury. Reba Thomsen had 21 assists and Paige Perry finished with 21 digs.

Lewis returns home next Friday to take on No. 20 Rockhurst at 7 p.m. Friday night's match will be Alumni Night.