The Lindenwood men's volleyball team split its two pool-play games of the 2011NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational Tournament on Thursday in Davenport, Iowa. The Lions got off to a rough start, losing to Warner in five games, but swept Park in three games in the second match.

Lindenwood will advance to the semifinals, but must wait for the result of the match between Park and Warner to determine who and when it will play in the next round.

In the first match, the Lions fell to Warner by scores of 25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 21-25, 16-14.

The first game was close the whole way, but the Royals went on a 10-3 run to close out the game to gain an early 1-0 lead on Lindenwood.

In the second set, the Lions jumped out to an early lead, but Warner would come back to tie the game at 10-10. From that point on, the teams went back and forth. Warner took a 24-21 lead and looked to be in control, but the Lions stormed back with five straight points behind JM Plummer's serving to steal the game.

Lindenwood led most of the third game and was leading 17-13. Warner proceeded to go on a 12-4 stretch and took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Lions were not willing to give up though, as they started strong in the fourth set, and eventually held a 17-12 lead. Warner battled back and tied the game up 20-20 and was threatening to close out the Lions in the opening match. But Bradley Johnston went on a crucial three-point serving streak to enable Lindenwood to send the match to a fifth set.

The Lions built a 12-8 advantage in the final set, but could not hold on to it. The Royals went on an 8-2 run to give Lindenwood the loss.

Leading the attack for Lindenwood was Johnston with 16 kills, followed by Mike Warren and Jack Mitchell each with 10. Mike Larson helped with 27 assists and Carson Grissinger added 22. Defensively, Luke Knowlson recorded seven blocks, while Mike Emerick had eight digs.

The Lions came out ready to play from the start against Park in the second match, sweeping the Pirates with scores of 25-15, 27-25, and 25-21. 

Game one was tied at 3-3, when Lindenwood went on a 10-3 run to blow the set wide-open. The Lions cruised to a ten point victory from there.

The second set was tight the entire way, with the biggest lead coming when Park led 7-4 early. But down 25-24, Lindenwood rattled off three straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the final game, the last time Park saw the lead was at a 2-1 score. From that point, the Lions seized control of the game and stretched their lead to as many as six points as they coasted to a three-game sweep.

Leading Lindenwood's offensive charge was Johnston with 12 kills, and Plummer adding eight. Grissinger and Larson provided 18 and 16 assists, respectively. On the defensive side, Matt Schmack posted five blocks and Knowlson had fou, while Grissinger recorded a team-high six digs.