ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 3 seed Lewis University women’s volleyball team fell to No. 6 Rockhurst in five sets Thursday (Nov. 30) in the NCAA Division-II Midwest Regional Quarterfinals. The 3-2 defeat marks the end of the Flyers’ 2023 season.
“It was a good match, a lot of ups and downs,” head coach Lorelee Smith said postgame.
When asked about this year’s senior class, Smith described them as a “really good group,” and added, “any coach would be lucky to have them.”
Both teams’ defenses controlled the match, with 120 digs by both sides, nine blocks for Lewis and seven blocks by Rockhurst. Smith said that defensive intensity was one of the factors behind the Flyers’ 26 attack errors.
“You’ll try to be more aggressive, try to swing to an area that your teammates told you was open, but maybe in that particular situation the set didn’t give you that swing,” Smith said. “I think some of our errors came because we were actually trying (so hard) to score, which is what you should be doing.”
TEAM RECORDS
(RV) Rockhurst 22-7 | No. 11 Lewis 26-7
LEWIS LEADERS
Kills: Megan Schlechte (Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) (19), Bella Ray (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic) (17), Juliana Van Loo (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) (13), Hannah Alvey (Mapleton, Ill./Illinois Central College) (12)
Digs: Ally Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) (32), Schlechte (26), Elena Gubera (Jamestown, Ind./Western Boone) (18), Lauren Stenman (Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul) (17), Chloe Fornetti (Caledonia, Mich./East Kentwood) (14)
Assists: Stenman (51)
Blocks: Ray (6), Van Loo (3), Gracie Schultz (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest High School) (3)
Aces: Hickey (2)
SET BREAKDOWN
Set 1: Rockhurst 26, Lewis 24
Rockhurst started fast, gaining a 4-1 lead but Lewis later surged ahead with a 4-0 run featuring three kills to take a 14-12 lead and forcing the Hawks to call timeout.
The timeout did little to slow down the Flyers, who scored three more points including a kill and block by Ray to make the lead 17-12, and drawing Rockhurst’s second timeout of the frame.
Lewis scored one more point after the second timeout, but then the Hawks came charging with an 8-3 push to trim the deficit to one. The Flyers reached set point at 24-21, but Rockhurst then scored five consecutive points to take set one.
Set 2: Lewis 27, Rockhurst 25
The Hawks once again went ahead early, starting set two with a 3-0 run. Lewis took six of the next eight points, including four…
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