complete game notes in .pdf format

Storyline
The Lindenwood men's volleyball team will host the 13th Annual Lindenwood Invitational. On Friday, the Lions have their first tournament match against Rust. Later that night, the Lions battle against former NAIA rival Graceland. On Saturday afternoon, Grand View is the opponent for Lindenwood before the Lions seek revenge against the Park Pirates.

Lindenwood started off undefeated until last week, when they dropped to five-set matches.

Last Time Out
Lindenwood started last weekend suffering a 3-2 loss to Quincy. The Hawks went up two sets to begin the match. In the third set, Lindenwood came out swinging as they hit .593 with no hitting errors to make the match 2-1.

The Lions closed out the fourth set by the same score as the third, 25-18.The final set was back-and-forth until the Hawks recorded back-to-back kills to seal the victory.

The team recorded 58 kills in the match and hit .278 to Quincy's .265.

Lindenwood moved to 3-2 with yet another five-set loss to Park.

The fifth set was tied at 13, until a service error and a kill from the Pirates ended the Lions chances at a victory. Jack Mitchell had 17 kills while Michael Adams posted 15. Scott Siwicki recorded a .588 hitting percentage with only one error.

Both teams had over 60 kills, with Park hitting .319 while the Lions posted a .271 percentage.

Middle Attack
Sophomore Scott Siwicki and freshmen Logan Jarus have been the most consistent middle hitters this season. In the two matches, Siwicki had a .482 hitting percentage with 18 kills and seven blocks. Jarus posted a .343 percentage with 16 kills and team-high eight blocks against Park.

Starting Setter
After posting 45 assists against Quincy, Tim Schmidt recorded 23 assists before coming out of Sunday's match with an injury. Junior setter Chris Cox stepped in during the second set to finish the match. Cox recorded 35 assists in his first varsity appearance as well as getting a kill on a setter's dump in the third set.

Team Defense
Lindenwood is playing stellar defense averaging 8.70 digs a set in the past two matches. Outside hitter Michael Adams had double-figure digs in the last two matches with 14 against Quincy and 10 during the Park match.

Serving Threat
This season the Lions are averaging 1.14 services aces a set. Leading the Lions from the serving line are jump servers, Michael Adams with nine and Scott Siwicki with eight. Catching up is senior floating specialist Jack Mitchell with three.

Rough Start
Lindenwood got off to a shaky start last week by dropping the first two sets in both of its five-set matches.

The Lions lost by close margins in all the sets including a 30-28 mark in the first set against the Park Pirates. Lindenwood has hit under .100 in the first couple sets, while the opponents hit .230 to .400.

Lindenwood Invitational
In the past six years, Lindenwood has gone 20-4 when it hosts the invitational. The only losses have come from Hope International, Park, and two from California Baptist. Last season, the Lions went 4-0 on the weekend.

Up Next
Lindenwood will travel to Ball State on Feb. 9, then play Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 11. They will wrap up the weekend at Carthage on Feb. 12.

About the Cougars
Rust is 0-4 this season suffering losses to Graceland, MSOE and twice against Quincy.

Head coach of the Cougars is Brandon Reeves, who is also the coach for Rust's women's volleyball program.

About the Vikings
Grand View enters its inaugural season in men's volleyball and the NAIA. The Vikings are currently 1-3 on the season after winning their lone victory against Robert Morris College.

Head coach of the Vikings is Donan Gruz.

About the Yellowjackets
With their lone loss coming to Missouri Baptist to start the season, the Yellowjackets have won four straight matches including a rematch against the Spartans at home. This will be the first time the Lions play Graceland since the MAMVIC tournament in 2011.

Head coach Chad McDole is in his eighth year at the school and had a record of 12-12 last season.

About the Pirates
Park returns to the Hyland Arena after beating the Lions on Sunday, Jan. 29. The Pirates beat Lindenwood in five sets and hit over .300 in the match along with recording 48 digs. Park is the No. 2 team at the NAIA level. Last season's squad went 24-11 and advanced to the NAIA semifinals.

Mike Talamantes is in his first season as Park's head coach and is 3-0 this season.