ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Lewis University's top ranked women's volleyball team recorded back-to-back wins over the Maryville Saints and Missouri S&T Miners on Saturday at Moloney Arena. The Flyers (13-0, 13-0 GLVC) won over the Saints (1-12, 1-12 GLVC) in four sets to start the day off and escaped the five-set upset over the Miners (8-5, 8-5 GLVC) in the afternoon.
 
In the opening set against Maryville, the Flyers opened up an 11-4 lead over the Saints because of their fast-paced plays. Lewis continued to widen the gap over Maryville and closed out the set, 25-10.
 
The Saints managed to be within the range of the Flyers halfway through the second set at 16-12, following a kill by Rachel Hurt but Lewis' strong defense allowed them to close the set scoring nine of the final 15 points to win the stanza 25-18.
 
The Flyers were looking to close the match in straight sets, but the Saints matched them point for point early in the set. Several errors and miscues by Lewis allowed Maryville to deny the straight-sets win, 25-15.
 
Not looking back at the last set, Lewis started on a 9-4 run led by Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs), but errors helped Maryville stay in the game. The Flyers held on to the lead throughout the set and closed the match, 25-16.
 
Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) and Farah Taki (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) led Lewis in scoring with five kills each. Jaime Poppen tallied three aces and 17 digs. The Flyers hit .187 in the game, recording 48 attacks against 22 errors in a total of 139 attempts. 
 
In their second match for the day, the Flyers trailed the Miners throughout the first set. Despite inconsistency on the offense, attacks by Venema and Caroline Stefanon (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) brought the Flyers back late to take the opening set, 25-21.
 
Jordan Burton opened up scoring for the Miners in the second set, looking forward to building a lead but Venema matched the Miners output to keep Lewis in the game. Consecutive errors by Lewis allowed Missouri S&T to have a six-point advantage late in the set, with the Miners taking the set, 25-17.
 
Both teams were neck and neck in the third frame, however, the Miners capitalized on a quick 9-4 run to pull away from the Flyers. Lewis managed to save three set points at 24-18 but Payton Gannaway cut the Flyer comeback short to secure the third set.
 
With their perfect record at stake, the Flyers found their rhythm midway in the fourth with a 7-1 run behind three consecutive service aces by Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul). The Miners came back to tie the game at 22 but Stefanon denied the Miners win at 26-24.
 
Continuing their strong finish in the fourth, the Flyers secured a three-point lead over the Miners from back-to-back kills by Van Loo. Missouri S&T tried to overcome the lead in the race to 15 but Lewis was able to deny the upset, 15-10.
 
Venema and Stefanon led the Flyers in kills with 13 each followed by Amanda Greening (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) with eight. Venema also recorded a game-high nine blocks. The Flyers hit .151 in the match, recording 52 kills on 185 attempts.  Haley Soberalski along with Stenman tallied 19 assists each while Poppen led the team with 28 digs.
 
The Flyers return home next Saturday, March 27, to take on Illinois-Springfield at 2 p.m.