Lewis Athletics
INDIANAPOLIS – Lewis University’s 14th ranked women’s volleyball team improved to 2-0 overall and in the GLVC with a sweep of Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon at the Ruth Lilly Center in Indianapolis, Ind. The Greyhounds dropped to 1-1 overall and in the conference.
Lewis never trailed in the opening set as it scored the first two points of the match and nine of the first 11. UIndy cut the Flyer lead to 10-6 but that would be the closest it got as Lewis pulled away with a 7-3 run to build an eight-point lead. The Flyers would go onto win the opening set 25-16.
Lewis hit .213 in the opening set recording 16 kills against six errors in 47 attempts. Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg)had four kills in the frame while Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West), Amanda Greening (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Ava Venema(Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) had three kills apiece.
The Flyers used an 11-3 run midway through the middle set to break open a tight set to win the stanza 25-14. Lewis had a balanced attack in the frame with Venema and Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) leading the way with four kills apiece while Greening and Caroline Stefanon (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) had three kills each.
The final set went back-and-forth with 12 ties and four lead changes. The Flyers used a 5-2 run late in the set to overcome a 20-19 deficit and take a 24-22 lead after back-to-back kills from Schlechte and Stefanon to set up match point. The Hounds came back as Emma Jones and Hannah Huppenbauer blocked Greening to tie the score at 24. Schlechte put Lewis back in front and then Haley Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) finished it off with a kill from Schlechte to give the Flyers a 26-24 set win.
Lewis finished the contest hitting .248 (49 kills/17 errors/129 total attacks) and was led by Greening with 11 kills while Schlechte, Venema and Stefanon added eight kills apiece. Sobieralski had 23 assists and Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) had a match-high 24 digs.
UIndy was held to a .087 attack percentage recording 28 kills against 17 errors in 127 chances. Jones and Elizabeth Eads had eight kills each to lead the Hounds while Natalie Thorn had 23 assists and Makenna Barnhart finished with 14 digs.
The Flyers play their first home match of the season next Saturday (Feb. 6) hosting McKendree at 3 p.m.