ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The No. 13 Lewis University women's volleyball team won 3-1 against Truman State Friday (Nov. 3) at Neil Carey Arena. It was the Flyers' 'Rae Strong' game, celebrating the Rae Strong Foundation created by Lewis head coach Lorelee Smith and Lewis men's volleyball head coach Dan Friend, proud parents of Rae Analyn Friend.

The Rae Strong Foundation was created as a means to help provide support for micro-preemie families. A micro-preemie is a baby born weighing less than one pound, 12 ounces or before 26 weeks gestation. Rae Friend was born as a micro-preemie, having been born at just 24 weeks before spending 115 days in Loyola Hospital's NICU.

Through the Rae Strong Foundation, Dan and Lorelee are working to build an environment that fosters the incredible support that was given to them at Loyola, where any family with a micro-preemie can feel the hope and joy that comes with a miracle happening in front of you. Through the Rae Strong Foundation, grants are awarded to families, hospital NICUs and preemie-supporting organizations.

At Friday's contest, Rae Strong also donated a check to The Little Giraffe Foundation. The Little Giraffe Foundation was started by Amanda and Mike Santoro after they lost their daughter, Cheyenne. The Santoros started The Little Giraffe Foundation to share the life of Cheyenne with the world, to support patients and parents of the NICU, and to help fund neonatal research.

Since 2011, The Little Giraffe Foundation has delivered over 26,000 gift bags to an array of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), awarded over 100 support grants to dozens of hospitals around the country, and funded over $280,000 in medical research.

If you would like to donate to the Rae Strong Foundation or The Little Giraffe Foundation, go to their websites http://raestrong.org and http://littlegiraffefoundation.org.

TEAM RECORDS
No. 13 Lewis (20-6, 8-2 GLVC) | Truman State (12-13, 2-8 GLVC)
 
LEWIS LEADERS
Kills: Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) (18), Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) (12), Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) (10)
Digs: Ally Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) (19), Schlecte (13)
Assists: Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) (47)
Blocks: Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) (8), Van Loo (4), Hannah Alvey (Mapleton, Ill./Illinois Central College) (4)
Aces: Schlechte (4), Hickey (2), Chloe Fornetti (Caledonia, Mich./East Kentwood) (2)
 
SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: Lewis 25, Truman St. 16
Lewis started strong, pulling out to a 6-2 lead. Lewis stayed out in front with a 4-0 run later in the set with a four-kill streak to push the lead to 13-6. The Bulldogs soon responded with a 3-0 run of its own to close the gap and make the score 20-15.
 
From there, the Flyers allowed just one point the rest of the set. The Flyers then began a 3-0 push with Schlechte earning back-to-back aces to close the opening set.
 
Set 2: Lewis 25, Truman St. 10
Lewis shot out of the gate with scoring to begin the second with a steep score of 8-1. Lewis continued the hot streak with a mix of kills and errors late into the set pushing the score to a resounding 13-1 advantage.
 
From that point, Lewis secured a run of four points in a row while the Bulldogs struggled to fight the deficit improving the score to 21-6. Lewis closed out the second set with a kill by Schlechte to earn the final point. The Flyers hit .370 in the set while holding Truman to -.188, with just four kills to 10 attack errors.
 
Set 3: Truman St. 25, Lewis 23
Set three got out to another hot start with a 4-1 run by Lewis, but Truman fought back with a 3-0 run afterwards to take the lead 7-5. The Flyers later tied the score 9-9 with another 3-0 run, but the Bulldogs came right back with a 4-0 push to go back on top, 17-12.
 
From there, the sides alternated points with Lewis coming to a one score difference with a score of 17-16. Neither side was able to push ahead of the other with several lead changes taking place. It was Truman that solidified its first set win late by earning a kill to get in the win column.
 
Set 4: Lewis 25, Truman St. 10
It was the Flyers that started strong in set four, taking a 5-1 lead early. After Truman narrowed the deficit to one at 5-4, the Flyers came back with a dominating 7-0 run to push back to a comfortable lead at 12-4. Another 5-1 run for Lewis increased the score to 18-7 in the set.
 
Lewis maintained the advantage for the remainder of the set with a third 5-1 offensive push. Soon after the push, Van Loo achieved a kill to end the Flyers set with a controlling final score. Lewis once again dominated in kill percentage, hitting .400 in the set while holding the Bulldogs to -.120. Van Loo led the way throughout the match for the Flyers, with 18 kills on just 23 attacks, for a .739 attack percentage.
 
UP NEXT
Lewis women's volleyball will play its final regular season home game Saturday (Nov. 4) playing Upper Iowa at 3 p.m. CT at Neil Carey Arena.