ROMEOVILLE, Ill -- The Lewis University women's volleyball team lost a hard fought battle against Flagler on Thursday, after four close sets.

TEAM RECORDS
Flagler 10-9 | Lewis 15-8
                    
LEWIS LEADERS vs. Flagler
Kills:  Hannah Alvey (Mapleton, Ill./Illinois Central College) (12), Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) (12)
Digs: Ally Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) (22), Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West) (22)
Assists: Lily King (Channahon, IL) (26)
Aces: Stefanski (3)
Blocks: Ray (6)

SET BREAKDOWN vs. Flagler
Set 1: Flagler 27, Lewis 25
Flagler started Thursday night's game with a long battled two kills giving them an early lead. Lewis would respond with two points of their own off of kills by Lauren Buxton (Springfield, Ill./Pleasant Plains) and Alvey. Both teams continued to battle as Flagler began to from a small lead early in the first set. 

The Flyers continued to fight back as they retook the lead off of service and attacking errors by the Saints. The set continued to remain close as both squads entered double digits, but Lewis held a narrow lead which they saught to expand. Lewis put up a four point run thanks to kills by Stefanski, Alvey and Mallory Januski (Bourbonnais, Ill./Valparaiso) with a service ace from Stefanski as well. 

Lewis was the first team to the 20 point mark in the first set, but the Saints put up a barrage of points to eventually take back the lead. A strong back and forth battle between Lewis and Flagler saw the set tied at 25, the Saints powered through and put two points on the board, for a first set win.

Set 2: Lewis 25, Flagler 18
Much like the first, the second set was an evenly matched brawl between the two teams. Flagler got out to an early start which was met by Saints service error. Lewis achieved the first extended run of the set with a five point run off of kills by Buxton, Ray, and Alvey with a Hickey service ace and a Alvey and Ray Combined Block.

Appropriately, this match which took place on Halloween wasn't without its spooky problems. With the score tied at 17, it was determined the Saints illegally subbed in a player earlier in the set. This resulted in a penalty point to Lewis and and additional point for the one point Flagler served under. This made the match 18-15 instead, and both teams returned to the floor. 

Lewis quickly got back to work to finish off the set, a kill by Buxton moved Lewis to 24 and with a Flagler attack error, the Flyers took set number two.

Set 3: Flagler 25, Lewis 23
Flagler once again got out to an early lead and went up 5-2 quickly. The Flyers responded with a four point run off of a kills by Keagan Carey and Rachel Kaczorowski (Carpentersville, Ill./Harry D. Jacobs), with an Alvey service ace and a Flagler attack error. After much back and forth the Flyers continued to expand on their lead to make it 13-9.

Lewis held onto a narrow lead around the halfway point, but Flagler continued to be persistent and took an 18-17 lead, putting Lewis behind. Flagler reach the 20 point mark first and looked to take the set for themselves. A service ace from Alvey tied the set at 22, but Flagler put up two points in response to make it 24-22. Ray hammered home a kill to bring them within one, but a tipped shot by Lewis gave Flagler the final point the needed to take set 3.

Set 4:  Missouri-St. Louis 25, Lewis 22
Flagler struck first again with the first Flyer point coming off of a kill by Januski. After another Flagler point, the Flyers went on a five point run from another Januski kill, a kill by ray, two Kaczorowski serving aces and a Carey-Ray block. 

Lewis began to fall behind and allowed Flagler to gain momentum. The set went back and forth throughout the middle portion of action. Flagler consistently held a one to two point lead until they started to pull ahead towards 20. Lewis tied the game at 19 off of a kill by Januski, followed by a Saints kill to move them up a point. Januski landed a kill which made the set 23-20 in favor of Flager, the Saints quickly threw down another kill to give themselves 24. A Januski kill and a Flagler error gave Lewis some life, but a Flagler kill gave the Saints the match win. 

UP NEXT
A quick turn around for the Flyers as they face Missouri S&T on November 1st, 2024 at 6:00 PM CST at Neil Carey Arena.