ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fifth ranked women's volleyball team swept McKendree to remain unbeaten on the season on Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill. The Flyers improve to 3-0 overall and in the GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 0-2 overall and in the league.
Lewis used an 8-2 run early in the match to turn a one-point deficit into a 12-7 lead after a block from
Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) and
Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian). The lead grew to as much as seven at 17-10 after a kill from Van Loo. McKendree got as close as five but wouldn't get closer the rest of the way as the Flyers pulled away for the 25-18 set victory.
Lewis hit .364 (15 kills/3 errors/33 total attacks) in the middle set and closed the set on an 8-0 run to win 25-15 and take the commanding 2-0 lead.
Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) had five kills in the set while
Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) added four kills in the stanza.
The third set was tight until the middle portion when Lewis began to pull away thanks to a 6-2 run to build a 19-14 advantage. The Bearcats rallied to cut the Flyer lead to 20-18 after a service error from Ray but that would be the closest, they got as Lewis scored five of the final six points to complete the sweep 25-19.
The Flyers finished the contest with an attack percentage of .267 recording 40 kills against 13 errors in 101 chances. Schlechte finished with a match-high 11 kills while Ray added seven and Van Loo and Venema had six kills each.
Mikah Freppon (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) had a match-high 16 digs and
Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) had a match-high 24 digs.
Lewis' defense held McKendree to a hitting percentage of .094 (29/19/104) and had four blocks and 52 digs. Elle Russell led the Bearcats with nine kills while Gracie Marr finished with 14 assists and Brittany Binder had 10 digs.
The Flyers return to action next Friday as they travel down to Springfield, Ill., to take on the Prairie Stars at 7 p.m.
