The Lindenwood Lady Lions volleyball team finished the Tritons Classic at the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a five set loss to the host, UMSL. Lindenwood finished its opening weekend with a record of 2-2.

The Lady Lions fell to UMSL 25-17, 25-20, 13-25, 21-25 and 12-15. This was the fourth time the Lady Lions have had a match decided in the fifth set.

The opening set was all Lions as they jumped out to an aggressive 10-4 lead. Although the Tritons tried to make a comeback, Lindenwood was able to shut down the home team and win 25-17.

In the second set, Lindenwood was once again on the attack, taking advantage of hitting errors, which led to the Tritons hitting only .175 for the entire set. The Lady Lions would win the set 25-20.

The Tritons seemed to build momentum in the third set as they dominated Lindenwood beating them 25-13. Similar to the third, the fourth set brought on more stress for the Lady Lions. As much as they fought back, UMSL was too much for Lindenwood and ended the set 25-21.

The Lady Lions entered their 20th set of the weekend having gone five sets in every one of their matches. As hard as they tried, the Tritons seemed to counter everything Lindenwood threw at them. UMSL would go on to win the match 12-15.

Kristy Dreisewerd recorded 10 kills on the offense with Ellen Fandry finishing with nine. Kelsey Biggs and Emma Brydels both tallied 19 assists along with 15 digs for Biggs and 13 for Brydels. Kelsey Jo Volger added five blocks and Katie Weber had four.

Kaila Schrimpf led the defense with 23 digs, followed by Pasty Erb with 18 and Fandry with 13. Schrimpf was also named to the Triton Classic All-Tournament Team.

Earlier in the day, the Lady Lions started with a big win over the Wayne State Warriors 18-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-19, and 15-10.

The Lady Lions struggled to synchronize in the first set trailing the majority of the set and lost set one 18-25. However in the second set Lindenwood kicked it up a notch and held onto the lead until the Warriors fought back. Trailing 19-24, Wayne State was able to connect with their hitters and force errors to tie the game at 24-24. A Wayne State error and a Kelsey Jo Volger and Emma Brydels block helped the Lions take set two 26-24.

The back-and-forth third set was won on the defensive end. As the lead continued to change, so did the momentum with each side playing more aggressive then the previous sets. Lindenwood was able to win set three 26-24.

With a 2-1-match lead, the Lady Lions had to win the fourth set to finish the match. However, the Warriors were able to feed off Lindenwood's errors and take set four 18-25.

The fifth and final set was to be decided on the offensive side. The Warriors started with a 3-6 lead over the Lady Lions and seemed to be unstoppable until the Lions began to come back. With the lead at 11-9, Lindenwood would use off speed shots to eventually win the match 15-10.

Ellen Fandry led the offense with 14 kills while Brydels and Kristy Dreisewerd each had 10. Also, Brydels and Kelsey Biggs each recorded 25 assists with 10 and 15 digs respectively.

Kaila Schrimpf tallied 27 digs while Patsy Erb and Fandry ended with 20 and 27. Volger led the Lady Lions in blocks with five.

The Lady Lions will finish the UMSL Triton Classic with their final match at 7 p.m. against the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Day One

The Lindenwood Lady Lions began their 2011 season at the Tritons Classic at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Friday. The Lady Lions won their first match against Gannon in five sets but fell in another five setter against North Alabama on Friday night.

In the second match of the day Lindenwood fell to the North Alabama Lions 22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24, and 5-15. 

Lindenwood started off with strong serves and powerful swings, but produced too many errors that led to an 18-22 North Alabama lead. The Lady Lions would record three major points to put them back within one at 21-22. Although it was to no avail when the Lions of North Alabama sided out to take set one 22-25.

The start of the second set was once again a slow one for the Lady Lions. Trailing 14-20 half way through the game, Lindenwood had to make a tremendous comeback in order to compete. However, North Alabama would prove too much and go on to win set two 19-25.

After a treacherous second set, the Lady Lions started off with a 9-5 lead in the beginning of the third game. Big kills and blocks from Katie Weber and Kelsey Jo Volger kept Lindenwood's lead secure. With a four-point lead later in the game, the Lady Lions stayed consistent on all ends of the court and defeated the Lions 25-20.

The fourth set was all North Alabama who had an 11-15 lead. Trailing at 19-24, the match appeared to be over until Kaila Schrimpf went back to serve. After a tremendous serving and defensive performance, Schrimpf was able to bring the Lady Lions back to win 26-24.

Lindenwood and North Alabama started off even in the beginning of the fifth set. However errors consumed the Lady Lions and North Alabama took advantage of them. Lindenwood would end their day falling to North Alabama 5-15.

Weber, Ellen Fandry and Kristy Dreisewerd each finished with double-digit kills of 10, 11, and 12. Kelsey Biggs recorded 20 assists with 11 digs with Emma Brydels adding 27 assists and 17 digs.

Schrimpf led the way defensively with 32 digs while Fandry had 17 and Patsy Erb with 12. Volger tallied five blocks in the match.

Earlier in the day, Lindenwood kicked off its season opener with a victory over the Gannon University Golden Knights 25-21, 20-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-9. 

The Lady Lions were trailing 8-5 to start the opening set but went on a dominating 12-5 run to take the lead at 17-13. However, after a couple of Lion errors, the Golden Knights were able to come within one and eventually tie the score at 19-19. After a kill and a pair of aces by Katie Weber, Lindenwood was able to seal the first set 25-21.

The second set was all Gannon. The Golden Knights held the lead for most of the game and eventually won 20-25.

In the third set, the Lady Lions started to serve with more aggression. Ellen Fandry served four straight to give Lindenwood an 8-3 lead. With Fandry and Weber fiercely attacking at the ball, the Lady Lions went on to win 25-18.

Gannon was able to build momentum off a few Lindenwood errors in the fourth set and win 15-25. It all came down to a fifth set where the Lady Lions came out swinging.

Both teams went back and forth, until Kristy Dreisewerd awoke the Lions with a kill and a block to switch sides at 8-4. Lindenwood eventually capitalized on Gannon's hitting and setting errors to win the match 15-9. 

Weber recorded a team high of 10 kills to lead Lindenwood's offense. Fandry, Dreisewerd, Kelsey Jo Vogler, and Emma Brydels each tallied eight kills. Dreisewerd and Weber had three and four blocks, respectively.

Kelsey Biggs posted 20 assists and nine digs with Brydels adding 19 assists and 11 digs. Kaila Schrimpf also recorded 18 digs.

The women's volleyball team advances to 2-2 on the season and will host Missouri Baptist on Wednesday at 7 p.m.