WILLIAMSVILLE, Ill. – The No. 25 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team survived a game Lewis squad winning in a five-set thriller to kick off its quest for the Great Lakes Valley Conference title on Friday at the Williamsville High School Fieldhouse in Williamsville, Ill. The Tritons improve to 24-4 while the Flyers end their season with a record of 15-14.

With the win, UMSL snaps Lewis' four-year GLVC championship run and ends their 18-year NCAA Tournament streak.

The Tritons, seeded first, jumped out to a six-point lead to open the match but the Flyers, seeded eighth, countered with an 8-2 run to even the set at 12 on a kill from Avery Holubar. UMSL countered scoring seven straight points to take its largest lead of the set at 19-12. Alayna Santel and Bridget Cassady each had kill in the run and the Tritons took advantage of five Lewis miscues.

The Flyers chipped away, scoring seven of the next nine points to pull within 21-19 but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL closed the set, scoring four of the final six points to win 25-21.

Lewis led wire-to-wire in the second stanza and led by as many as eight at 19-11. The Tritons rallied to within 23-19 after a kill from Addison Voorhees but wouldn't get any closer as the Flyers won 25-20 to even the match at a set apiece.

UMSL dominated set three hitting .500 in the frame with 20 kills against two errors in 36 attempts and was led by Santel who hit .900 in the stanza (9-0-10) while Maggie Johnson and Hannah Copeland added three kills each. The Tritons led by as many as 11 points in the set.

UMSL led by as many as six points in set four but the four-time defending conference champs wouldn't go without a fight tying it at 15. The Tritons countered with a 5-2 run to get to 20 first but couldn't close it out as Lewis finished the frame on an 8-1 run to win 25-21 to force the winner take-all set.

The two sides traded points over the 16 points of the final frame and were tied at eight after a kill from Sarah Newberry. UMSL was the first to gain separation scoring three in a row to build the multi-point lead but the Flyers got back-to-back kills from Emma O'Neill and Mya Bajramovic to cut the lead to 11-10.

After a timeout, the Tritons ran off four straight points to win 15-10 after a net violation was called on Kaileigh Krawiec.

UMSL hit .278 for the match with 74 kills against 20 errors in 194 attempts. Santel had a match-high 25 kills and was joined in double figures by Johnson with 15, Cassady and Iyannah Jackson added 11 kills each and Copeland finished with 10 kills. Caitlin Bishop recorded 57 assists, Johnson had three blocks and Skylar Weaver had a match-high 19 digs.

Lewis hit .232 for the contest with 57 kills against 18 errors in 168 swings and was led by Newberry with 11 kills. Lily King had 17 assists, Bajramovic had six total blocks and Elena Gubera and Kynzie Lilly had 15 digs each.

The Tritons will take on the winner of the second quarterfinal contest between fifth seeded Maryville and fourth seeded UIndy at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon the Williamsville High School Fieldhouse.