UMSL Falls in Five Games to Lewis

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL volleyball team lost a five-game heartbreaker on Saturday to visiting Lewis University, falling 3-2 (23-30, 12-30, 30-25, 30-16, 15-12). UM-St. Louis won the first two games of the match before the Flyers fought back to get to the win.

UMSL grabbed a 10-9 lead in the first game after a kill from Claudia Medina (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) and held that lead the rest of the first game. Lewis stayed close and got within one point of UMSL at 23-22, but after a timeout UM-St. Louis came out on first and scored seven of the next eight points to win the game 30-23. UMSL dominated the second game, breaking a 2-2 tie with four straight points. Leading 10-5, UMSL then went on a 13-2 run and led 23-7 before closing the second game out with a kill by Erin Denton (Crystal City, Mo./Crystal City) for a 30-12 win. In the third game, Lewis grabbed the lead early but UMSL came back to tie it at 9-9 after another kill by Denton. The Flyers then scored four straight points later in the game to take control and held off a late UMSL rally for the 30-25 win. Lewis took that momentum into the third game and won 30-16 to force a fifth game. After falling behind 3-1 early, UMSL fought back, and tied the game at 9-9 after a block by Shamika Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) and Christy Trame (Highland, Ill./Highland). UMSL would tie it again at 11-11, and a kill by Medina tied it again later at 12-12 before the Lewis pulled out the final three points for the win.

UMSL was led by Erin Denton with 17 kills and 12 digs. Claudia Medina had 14 kills and 15 digs and Joslyn Brown had a team best 16 digs. Lisa Brinker had 47 assists and 13 digs and Natalie Barnard (Poseyville, Ind./North Posey) had 11 digs and four service aces. UM-St. Louis is now 4-5 on the season and 1-1 in the GLVC, and will host Missouri Baptist on Wednesday at 7 pm.