The Lindenwood women's volleyball team lost both of its matches during day one of the LaQuinta Inn & Suites/Arkansas Tech Invitational on Friday afternoon. The Lady Lions fell in five sets to Truman State and lost in four sets versus the host school.
The Lady Lions lost to Truman State, a NCAA Tournament participant in each of the last 11 years, by scores of 25-13, 24-26, 25-16, 23-25, and 15-8. Lindenwood fought back from a 2-1 deficit to tie the match in the fourth set. The Lady Lions trailed 20-14 at one point in that set and still trailed at 23-22.
Kelsey Jo Vogler tied it at 23 and two straight Lindenwood blocks forced a fifth set.
In the deciding set, the two teams traded sideouts for most of the first half of the game. With the score tied 7-7, Truman went on an 8-1 run to win the contest.
Lindenwood struggled hitting the ball past Truman in the match as the Bulldogs had 21 blocks and the Lady Lions hit just .028. The Lady Lions' defense kept the team in it as the Lady Lions had 82 digs, nine more than Truman, nine blocks, and held Truman under .150 hitting.
Kristy Dreisewerd had a team-high 13 kills, and
Ellen Fandry and
Erin Anselman were also in double-figures.
Kelsey Biggs had team-highs of 42 assists and 20 digs.
Angela Cichelero finished with 18 digs,
Kaila Schrimpf had 16, and Anselman finished her double-double with 12 digs. Dreisewerd led Lindenwood with seven blocks and Vogler had a hand in six blocks.
Lindenwood lost the Arkansas Tech match by scores of 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, and 29-27. The Lady Lions hit .278 in the set that they won, but just .083 in the other three sets. For the second straight match, Lindenwood had trouble with the other team's blockers, as Arkansas Tech had 13 total blocks. Arkansas Tech also had seven more kills and four more aces.
Kelsey Kennedy led Lindenwood with 13 kills and Anselman was in double-figures kill for the third-straight match with 11.
Emma Brydels finished with 21 assists and 20 digs, Schrimpf had a team-high 22 digs, and Kristy Weber and Dreisewerd each had three blocks.
The tournament concludes on Saturday with matches versus Henderson State and Sioux Falls.
