The Lewis Volleyball Team is in the NCAA D-1 Final Four
(The final point in Lewis’s win over USC on Tuesday night to earn a trip to the Final Four)
Think of it as the Lewis University women’s basketball team taking on UCONN and Notre Dame.
Or the Lewis men’s basketball team going up against Duke, Virginia and North Carolina.
That is the scale at which we talk about the Flyer men’s volleyball team who just defeated the University of Southern California (a school of 44,000 in downtown LA) to earn their spot in the Final Four of men’s volleyball along with Hawaii, Pepperdine and Long Beach State.
This is an incredible story when you consider the disadvantages that a school like Lewis faces. First, and I mean no offense by this, but they are in Romeoville. I mean, I love Romeoville, but it’s not Malibu, Long Beach or Honolulu! It’s a tiny school in a tiny town in suburban Chicago. They have no business competing at the level of a USC, let alone beating them!
But wait Nick, I’m sure they just stack their team with athletic freaks from Europe and the West Coast like those other teams, right? No, dear reader! Sure, they have a few of those kids (you don’t become a national powerhouse without recruiting nationally), but local kids make up a decent part of their roster, and not just riding the pine! Kids from Aurora, Channahon, Oswego, Barrington, Bolingbrook and Frankfort all make regular contributions on the court. Of their typical starting line up, only two kids are from outside the Midwest!
The beasts from Lewis will look to knock off Hawaii on Thursday at 7:00 for a chance to hang an NCAA championship banner inside Neil Carey Arena. Do yourself a favor and give them a few minutes of your time…you might actually become hooked on men’s volleyball!
