ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's fifth ranked women's volleyball split its two matches on the first day of the Colorado Premiere Challenge on Friday afternoon at Regis University in Denver, Colo. The Flyers dropped their first contest to 17th ranked Wayne State (Neb.) 3-0 and bounced back with a sweep of ninth ranked Western Washington.
In the opener on Friday, Lewis (5-1) trailed by five midway through the opening set but came back to cut the Wildcat (5-0) lead to 14-13 after a kill from
Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West) forcing Wayne State to take a timeout.
The Wildcats responded out of the timeout with a 7-3 run to regain its five-point cushion. The Flyers got as close as four at 23-19 after a kill from
Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) but that would be the closest they got as WSC scored two of the final three points to take the opening set 25-20.
It was all Wildcats in the second set as they hit .344 and recorded 14 kills in the stanza. Lewis trailed 9-6 before Wayne State ran off 12 straight points to take a commanding 15-point lead and would go onto win 25-14.
The third set featured 13 ties and three lead changes and saw the Flyers lead 21-19 after a kill from
Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West) but the Wildcats came back scoring three straight points to take a 22-21 lead when Maggie Brahmer and Rachel Walker blocked
Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic). Ray came back a couple of points later to tie the game at 23 but Lewis was unable to extend the match as Wayne State scored the final two points to win 25-23 and complete the sweep.
Ray was tied for the match-high with 12 kills while Venema and Stefanski added nine kills apiece.
Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) had 22 assists and seven digs and
Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) finished with 15 digs. The Flyers hit .225 for the match recording 38 kills against 15 errors in 102 attempts.
The Wildcats hit .306 for the contest registering 40 kills against 10 errors in 98 swings. Kelsie Cada led WSC with 12 kills while Taya Beller added 10 kills. Walker finished with 34 assists and Jessie Brandl had 13 digs.
In the nightcap Lewis bounced back with a sweep of Western Washington. The Flyers hit .462 in the opening set while holding the Vikings (3-2) to a .120 attack percentage. Lewis used a 6-2 run to extend its lead from 9-7 to 15-9 after an ace from Stenman. WWU scored five of the next seven points to close the gap to 17-14 but the Flyers countered with six straight to seize control and take a 23-14 lead after an ace from Poppen. Ray closed out the set for Lewis recording back-to-back kills for a 25-16 set win.
The middle stanza saw 15 ties and five lead changes. The Flyers led late in the set at 22-19 after Venema and Stefanski teamed up for a block of Calley Heilborn. The Vikings came back to tie the set at 23 after a kill from Gabby Kepley. Ray gave Lewis the lead right back with a kill but Kepley evened it back up with another kill. The Flyers would go onto win the set 26-24 after back-to-back errors from Kepley.
Lewis led wire-to-wire in the third set as they raced out to a 6-1 lead and wouldn't see its lead dip below three points during the set. It led by as many as 10 points in the stanza after a kill from Ray. Lewis hit .200 in the final frame while holding Western Washington to a negative .050 attack percentage.
The Flyers finished the match hitting .255 with 35 kills against 10 errors in 98 chances and finished with a season-high 13 total blocks in the contest. Ray led Lewis with nine kills while Venema and
Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) finished with eight kills apiece. Stenman had 19 assists, Poppen added 18 digs and Venema had seven total blocks.
The Vikings finished the match with a .026 attack percentage (30 kills/27 errors/116 total attacks). Gabby Gunterman led Western Washington with six kills while Heilborn and Olivia Fairchild had five kills each. Malia Aleaga had a match-high 25 assists and Kasey Woodruff had 15 digs.
The Flyers will play Regis on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. (CDT) at Metro State University in the Silver Bracket semifinal.
