Sept. 9, 2004

Boxscore

A professional photographer took pictures of this match. Photos will be uploaded to a web site within the next 48 hours. Visit www.printroom.com/pro/SteveWPhoto to view/order photos.

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.--Lewis University women's volleyball head coach Karen Lockyer stressed prior to the 2004 season that ball control would be a driving force for her team this season.

The Flyers (5-2) presented Exhibit A in that argument during a four-game match with 10th-ranked Northern Michigan (5-0). Lewis held large leads in three of the four games against the Wildcats, but were unable to deliver the knockout punch in a 30-28, 30-18, 16-30, 30-28 NMU victory.

"I was pleased with how we played tonight," Lockyer said. "We lost our composure in a couple spots, but that comes with the territory of having a young team."

The Flyers blitzed the Wildcats through most of the first game, eventually building a 21-10 lead. The gap was built through strong serving and average-to-sub-par passing on the part of NMU. At 14-6 in the first game, Lewis had just five kills and the Wildcats were hitting -.043, mostly a result of their passing.

However, Northern Michigan righted its ship and showed why it is regarded so highly nationally with a run 16-5 run that tied the game at 26-all. Lewis quickly reclaimed the lead following a Wildcat hitting error and a kill from freshman Jessica Lockhart. A Northern Michigan sideout and a kill from Aimee Dewitte tied the game at 28-all. Ashley Kiel then finished the game with two consecutive aces on Lewis sophomore Theresa Nugent.

Game 1 saw the Flyers hit .265 and record 17 digs, but four receiving errors in the late going helped pave the way for the Wildcat comeback.

Northern continued its strong serving early in game 2 en route to a 10-8 lead built on four aces. The Wildcats rolled to the game 2 win hitting .357, while Lewis was held to a match-low .125.

"After the second game, I told the team during the intermission that they could either roll over or make a good team play hard to beat them," said Lockyer.

The Flyers responded with a 30-16 thumping that could have been the result in the first game without the NMU comeback.

In game 3, Lewis hit .444 and was led by Nugent's seven kills. Lockhart added four kills on five attempts and added five digs.

Lewis appeared poised to continue its momentum through game 4 as it burst to a 7-1 lead. Northern responded with its own 7-1 run and the game was tied at 8-all. The game remained close until NMU took a 21-20 lead and extended it to 28-22. Lewis cut the lead to 28-26, but could draw no closer. Jennie Little ended Lewis' run with a kill to make it 29-26 and she closed the match with a kill as well.

For the match, Lewis beat the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category with the exception of the win column. The Flyers held a .272-.214 hitting percentage edge and a 73-58 dig margin. However, the most glaring statistic for the Flyers was 15 receiving errors.

Lewis was led by Nugent's match-high 17 kills, .421 hitting percentage and nine digs. However, she also had four receiving errors. Senior Rory Harrison had 10 kills and a team-best six blocks, while Lockhart and Sarah McKinney had nine kills each.

Maggie Haen led the team in digs with 21, while Lockhart added 19.

For Northern Michigan, Little had a team-high 16 kills. Dewitte posted 15 kills, 12 digs and four blocks, while Andrea Smith had 13 kills and Kiel had 10 kills.

The Flyers will host the Great Lakes Region Crossover Tournament this weekend with three teams each from the Great Lakes Valley and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences. For match times, visit www.LewisFlyers.com.