ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University’s 12th ranked women’s volleyball team continues to hold the top spot in this week’s Midwest Regional Rankings released by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon. The top eight teams in the final regional rankings will earn a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Midwest Region is comprised of teams from the GLVC, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC).
The Flyers conclude the regular season this weekend hosting No. 20 Rockhurst on Friday at 7 p.m. and then will host William Jewell on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Friday night’s match against the Hawks will be Alumni Night and on Saturday, Lewis will honor its five seniors: Ronni Katarzynski (Winfield, Ill./West Chicago), Alexandra Preuss (Elmhurst, Ill./York), Tori Foster (Munster, Ind./Munster), Caroline Stefanon(Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and Colleen Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) after the match against the Cardinals.
LAST TIME OUT – The Flyers extended their winning streak to three defeating Drury in a five-set thriller at the O’Reilly Family Events Center last Saturday. Lewis trailed by four late in the deciding set before scoring the final eight points of the match to win 15-11. Wilhelm matched her career-high with 20 kills in the contest.
WE’RE NO. 1 – The Flyers continue to hold the top spot in the second of three NCAA Midwest Regional rankings. The top three remain the same from a week ago. Ferris State moved up two spots to four this week while Michigan Tech dropped to five. Rockhurst had the biggest jump of the week moving up from ninth to sixth. Ashland fell from fifth to seventh and Indianapolis dropped from seventh to eighth. Saginaw Valley fell out of the top eight and is ninth while Bellarmine remains 10th.
SCOUTING ROCKHURST – The Hawks extend their winning streak to nine straight on Tuesday sweeping William Jewell in a non-conference in Liberty. Rockhurst hasn’t lost since getting defeated by Ferris State at the Midwest Region Crossover.
Karli Reichert and Alyssa Woodman lead the Hawk attack with 3.90 and 3.34 kills per set respectively. Dani Prusha is distributing 11.31 assists per set while Jadyn Makovicka leads the way on the back line averaging 4.77 digs per set.
LEWIS – ROCKHURST SERIES – Friday’s contest marks the 24th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Hawks with Lewis holding a 13-10 edge in the series. The Flyers won two of the three meetings last season. They defeated Rockhurst 3-1 at Neil Carey Arena last October. The Hawks won the first of the two postseason contests defeating Lewis in straight sets in the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament. The Flyers avenged that loss the following week defeating Rockhurst in four sets in the Midwest Regional Championship at Drury.
SCOUTING WILLIAM JEWELL – The Cardinals head into Friday’s match at Illinois Springfield with a record of 11-19, 4-13 GLVC after dropping their third straight match on Tuesday. Tori Vogt and Paityn Hardison lead the WJC offense averaging 2.57 and 2.55 kills per set respectively. Lauren Castaneda is averaging 5.38 assists per set while Kennedy Ruckh is averaging 4.34 digs per set. Elizabeth Quinn is one of the top blockers in the GLVC with 1.31 per set.
LEWIS – WILLIAM JEWELL SERIES – Saturday’s contest marks the eighth meeting all-time between the Flyers and Cardinals with Lewis having won the first seven meetings. Lewis won last year’s meeting in Romeoville in four sets.
