EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Lewis University’s 21st ranked women’s volleyball team advanced to Sunday’s GLVC Tournament Championship match with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-20) win over Quincy on Saturday afternoon at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Ill. The Flyers improve to 25-6 and run their win streak to 11 in a row while the Hawks finish their season with a record of 18-13.
Lewis advances to the championship match of the GLVC Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2017.
The opening stanza saw 12 ties and seven lead changes. Lewis trailed 18-17 when it seized control of the set thanks to a 7-0 run behind three kills from Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) while Natalie Stefanski (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet West) added a kill and Amanda Greening (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) added back-to-back blocks as the Flyers went onto win 25-19 on a kill from Schlechte.
Lewis hit .391 in the frame recording 20 kills against two errors in 46 chances and was led by Schlechte with six kills while Ava Venema (Westmont, Ill./Timothy Christian) added five kills.
The Flyers trailed by as many as four in the second set but rallied thanks to a 14-4 run to build a 19-13 lead after an ace from Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West). Quincy cut the lead to five at 20-15 on a kill by Emily Rehagen but that was the closest it got as Lewis scored five of the final seven points to win the set 25-17 on a kill from Stefanski.
The Flyers raced out to an early lead in set three scoring the first three points but the Hawks wouldn’t go quietly as they came back to take a 16-14 lead on a kill from Mattie Norris. It would be their final lead of the match as Lewis countered with an 8-2 run to retake the lead at 22-18 on a kill from Schlechte. Quincy scored back-to-back points to cut the deficit to three but back-to-back errors from Emma Wijenberger and Sarah Brown gave the victory to the Flyers.
Lewis finished the match hitting .253 with 50 kills against 12 errors in 150 swings and was led by Schlechte with a match-high 14 kills while Venema added 11, Greening chipped in with 10 and Stefanski had nine. Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) had 39 assists, Greening led the way with five blocks while Venema and Ray had four blocks apiece and Poppen had a team-high 20 digs.
The Hawks were held to a .126 hitting percentage with 38 kills against 19 errors in 148…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Lewis University Athletics…