ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's 14th ranked women's volleyball team returns home for the start of a three-match homestand this Friday (Oct. 1). The Flyers will take on Maryville that evening at 7 p.m., then will host Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. and wrap-up the homestand next Tuesday against Illinois Springfield at 7 p.m.

Lewis extended its winning streak to five rallying for a 3-1 win at Indianapolis on Tuesday evening. The Flyers dropped the opening set before winning the next three. Junior right side hitter Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) led Lewis with 14 kills in the match.

Home Sweet Home – Since 2007, the Flyers are 164-14 (.921) in the cozy confines of Neil Carey Arena. Lewis has posted three undefeated seasons at home in the past 14 years going 20-0 in 2008, 12-0 in 2012 and 10-0 in 2018. The Flyers have lost only once at home in a season nine times.

League Leaders – Fifth-year senior libero Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) currently leads the in digs with 5.89 per set while fifth-year senior middle blocker Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) is ranked fourth in the conference in kills (3.51 per set) and is fifth in hitting percentage at .371. Sophomore setter Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) is third in the league with 10.17 assists per set.

As a team, the Flyers are first in opponent hitting percentage, assists and kills, second in hitting percentage and digs and fifth in aces.

VAN LOOOO – Since conference play began on Sept. 16, Van Loo is averaging 2.65 kills and 2.76 points per set while hitting .427. She finished two kills shy of her season-high of 15 that she set against Flagler on Sept. 3.

AVCA Rankings – Lewis remained 14th in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Poll and is the lone representative from the GLVC in the Top 25. Rockhurst is in the receiving votes category this week.

About Maryville – The Saints enter Friday's contest with a record of 4-7 overall and are 0-4 in the GLVC after being swept by Quincy on Tuesday evening. Maryville has dropped four straight overall.

Rachel Hurt leads the team with 2.60 kills per set while Makenna Brauman is averaging 2.13 kills per set. Abbie Schnell is the team's primary setter dishing out 8.28 assists per set and Taylor Hasbrook is averaging 3.05 digs per set.

The Saints lead the GLVC in aces with 1.85 per set.

About Lindenwood – The Lions enter Friday's contest at UIndy riding a five-match winning streak and are 8-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Lindenwood extended its win streak to three with a sweep of Truman State on Tuesday evening in St. Charles.

The Lions lead the conference in hitting percentage at .250 and are second in service aces, third in kills, fourth in opponent hitting percentage, fifth in assists and tied for eighth in digs.

Rebecca Janke and Mackenzi Sifuentes led the conference in hitting percentage at .451 and .426 respectively. Allie Otten is fourth in the league in assists with 9.70 per set and Sifuentes is second in service aces with 0.53 per set.

About Illinois Springfield – The Prairie Stars have won back-to-back matches after opening the season with eight losses in their first 10 contests. Last weekend, UIS defeated UIndy and McKendree in back-to-back 3-1 victories.

Angela Denney leads the Stars with 2.51 kills per set while Ryleigh Warfel, Brianna Bush and Hannah Nicolaisen are averaging 2.24, 2.18 and 2.16 kills per set respectively. Becca Blakeley is averaging 7.04 assists per set. Bush is averaging 1.13 blocks per set and Amanda McConnell leads the way with 4.67 digs per set.

Series Stuff – Friday's match marks the 12th all-time meeting between the Flyers and Saints with Lewis leading the series 11-0 including 5-0 at Neil Carey Arena. Last season, the Flyers defeated Maryville 3-1 in St. Louis.

Saturday's match marks the third meeting all-time between Lewis and Lindenwood with the Flyers winning the first two meetings at Neil Carey Arena in 2019 and this past March.

Next Tuesday's match against Illinois Springfield is the 17th meeting all-time between Lewis and the Prairie Stars with the Flyers having won the first 16 matchups. Lewis swept the season series a year ago defeating UIS in five sets in Springfield in February and then swept them at Neil Carey Arena in March.

Up Next – The Flyers head to the Show-Me State for a pair of matches at Drury next Friday (Oct. 8) and at Missouri S&T next Saturday (Oct. 9).