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EAST PEORIA, IL – In the final round of the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament, East No. 2 seed Lewis University beat East No. 3 seed University of Indianapolis 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-23) on Sunday, Nov. 22, at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill., for its league-leading ninth crown.
The first set appeared to be anybody’s game as there were eight tie scores and five lead changes, but it was the Flyers who used four-straight points on two kills, an attacking error and a service ace to go ahead 13-10, and Indianapolis could never recover, falling 25-18. The two teams traded points in the early goings of set 2, tying the score five times at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 9-9, and 13-13, but it was Lewis again that scored four-straight tallies to take a 19-14 advantage. The Hounds did respond with four points in a row of their own to come within 19-18, but it was ultimately the Flyers who finished on top 25-22. The third and final set saw UIndy win the opening point for the third-straight set, but once Lewis regained the lead at 2-1 it held tough despite the Greyhounds’ hard-fought efforts to four times come within one point (8-7, 18-17, 22-21, 24-23).
Sophomore Aly Schneider led Lewis with a match-high .435 hitting percentage and 14 kills. Freshman Elizabeth Hyland also added 10 kills. For UIndy, junior Shelby Ruffner hit .400 and added 13 kills, while freshman Maggie Gibson tallied a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs. The Flyers now lead the all-time series with the Hounds in championship matches at 3-2.
With the victory, Lewis became the outright GLVC leader in volleyball tournament titles, surpassing former league member IPFW that won eight during its time with the Conference. The Flyers also earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Tournament and will learn their opponent tomorrow night when the Selection Show airs live on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
All seven matches of the GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament can be replayed on the GLVC Sports Network’s “On Demand” tab at www.GLVCsports.com/watch.