ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's 20th ranked women's volleyball team continues its five-game road trip with visits to Truman State and Missouri-St. Louis this weekend. The Flyers take on the Bulldogs on Friday evening at 7 p.m. and against the Tritons on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Last Time Out – Lewis extended its winning streak to five on Tuesday evening with a 3-1 win at Illinois Springfield. The Flyers had a balanced offensive attack in the victory with five players reaching double figures in kills led by Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West) with 18 kills. Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) added 61 assists, Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) had six blocks and Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) recorded 26 digs.

NCAA Regional Rankings – Lewis is ranked fourth in the Midwest Region in the first set of NCAA Regional Rankings. Michigan Tech claimed the top spot in the first ranking and is followed by Ferris State and Hillsdale. Missouri-St. Louis checked in at five followed by Grand Valley State, Wayne State (Mich.) and Lindenwood to complete the top eight. Rockhurst and Missouri S&T are ninth and 10th in this week's rankings.

Race for GLVC Tournament – With two weeks left to play in the regular season there is a lot to play for in determining the eight teams that will compete in the GLVC Tournament the weekend of Nov. 19-21 at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Ill. The Flyers currently hold the top spot at 13-1 but UMSL is right behind them with a record of 11-2 in GLVC play. Rockhurst is third followed by Southern Indiana, Missouri S&T, Indianapolis, Drury and Lindenwood to round out the top eight.

League Leaders – Lewis continues to lead the GLVC in several statistical categories. The Flyers led the conference in hitting percentage at .252, are first in opponent hitting percentage (.145), first in assists (13.76), first in kills (14.82) and are second in digs (18.63). Individually, Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) leads the league in total digs with 546 and digs per set (6.07). Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) holds the top spot in assists per set with 11.12 and Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) is second in the league with a hitting percentage of .391 and is fourth in kills per set (3.36). Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage and eighth in kills. Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) is 10th in service aces and Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) is tied for fourth in blocks.

About Truman State – The Bulldogs enter Friday's match with a record of 6-19, 2-11 GLVC and are a coming off a five-set win over Lindenwood last Saturday. Ellie Kaat and Morgan Smith lead the team offensively averaging 2.69 and 2.40 kills per set respectively. Rachel DeFries and Katy Motz have split time at the setter position this season and are averaging 4.58 and 3.54 assists per set. Morgan Smith leads the team along the back line with her 3.19 digs per set while on the front-line Allison Beaton leads the team with 0.74 blocks per set.

About Missouri-St. Louis – The Tritons enter Friday's contest against Missouri-St. Louis with a mark of 18-6, 11-2 in the GLVC and have won three straight. UMSL extended its winning streak with a sweep of Quincy on Tuesday evening. Charlotte Richards, the reigning GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the GLVC with her 4.71 kills per set and is hitting .241 for the season. Kaileen Herman leads the team in assists with 9.94 per set while on the defensive side of the ball Megan Woll is averaging 5.53 digs per set, second in the GLVC, and Mya Elliott is the team's top blocker at 0.79 blocks per set.

Series Stuff – Friday's contest marks the 16th meeting all-time between Lewis and Truman State with the Flyers holding an 11-4 advantage and have won seven straight in the series. Last season, Lewis picked up two wins over the Bulldogs defeating them in Kirksville on Feb. 28 and at the GLVC Tournament on April 16.

Up Next – The Flyers conclude their five-game road trip to end the regular season with matches at McKendree (Nov. 12) at 7 p.m. and at Southern Indiana (Nov. 13) at 3 p.m.