The No. 25 Lindenwood women's volleyball team won the HAAC tournament championship for the fourth time in the last six years Saturday afternoon at the Hyland Arena. The Lady Lions defeated MidAmerica Nazarene 24-26, 25-23, 25-12, 25-15.
Lindenwood was serving for game point in the opening set, but seven straight points by the Pioneers erased a 24-19 deficit, and gave MidAmerica Nazarene a one game lead.
In the second set, the Pioneers appeared to be in control early taking a 5-1 lead. Lindenwood would battle back, eventually grabbing a 19-18 lead. MidAmerica Nazarene briefly took a 22-21 advantage shortly after. Two straight points by Lindenwood put the Lady Lions back on top, but the Pioneers would tie it at 23 on the next serve. The Lady Lions pushed the Pioneers to game point for the second straight set on the ensuing serve, and
Kristy Dreisewerd evened the match at one game apiece with a kill seconds later.
Leading 10-8 in the third set, Lindenwood put together a 12-2 run to open its lead to 22-10. At one point during the run the Lady Lions converted seven straight points with
Ellen Fandry serving. Lindenwood eventually won the set and took all the momentum into the fourth game.
That momentum would prove to be the difference as the Lady Lions used another big run to put the Pioneers away. A 12-10 lead quickly ballooned into a 22-12 advantage, and the match ended on an errant MidAmerica Nazarene set.
Dreisewerd had a career-high 17 kills, and
Krista Yoder added 11. Fandry posted a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs, and
Erin Anselman finished with seven putaways.
Kelsey Biggs tallied 27 assists, and
Alexandria Malam logged 22. Malam converted three aces in the win.
Patricia Erb recorded 14 digs and
Alyssa Showers chipped in with 11.
Katie Weber had three blocks, and Yoder, Anselman, and Dreisewerd each had two apiece.
The Lady Lions hit .275 as a team, and totaled ten blocks and eight aces.
Lindenwood (33-12) advances to next Saturday's opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. The pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon.
