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Storyline
The Lindenwood men's volleyball team will play its first home matches since the Lindenwood Invitational on Wednesday. The Lions will play Lindenwood-Belleville in an exhibition match at 5 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. match against the NCAA Division III Fontbonne Griffins.

Last Time Out
Lindenwood is returning from a three-match road trip where the Lions went 1-2 on the weekend. Their lone victory came on Saturday over Milwaukee Engineering. Their two loses were against NCAA Division I Ball State and Carthage, who is ranked No. 1 at the NCAA Division III level.

On Thursday, the Lions were able to take a set off Ball State for the first time in four meetings. Lindenwood was unable to finish as it lost the final set 25-13.

The Lions traveled to Milwaukee Engineering on Saturday where Lindenwood swept the Red Raiders in three sets. Austin Tudor had the team-high of eight kills, and JM Plummer posted a team-high of eight digs.

The final match of the weekend was against Carthage. The Lions were 5-0 all-time against the Red Men before this weekend. Unfortunately, that streak ended as Lindenwood was defaeted in straight sets. Cory Buehler led the defense with 17 digs, and a trio of players, Jack Mitchell, Plummer, and Logan Jarus, had eight kills.

Senior Stampede
The two senior Lions had a good showing last weekend as they led the team in kills in almost every match. Opposite hitter Jack Mitchell recorded 15 kills against Ball State, seven versus Milwaukee Engineering and eight against Carthage.

JM Plummer also had a riveting weekend up north. Even though he struggled in the Ball State match, Plummer was able to post six kills against Milwaukee Engineering and tied for the team-high with eight against the Red Men.

The Men in the Middle
This weekend all three middles for the Lions contributed. Logan Jarus led the way hitting .406 on the weekend including a 1.000 hitting percentage against Milwaukee Engineering. Scott Siwicki also did well posting a .257 in three matches, with an eight-for-19 statistic against NCAA Division I Ball State. Sophomore middle hitter Evan Bruton also came in against the Red Raiders to post a kill.

The 500 Club
Senior outside hitter and four-year varsity letter winner JM Plummer surpassed the 500 career kills mark last weekend when he posted 17 kills in ten sets. He also joined the 500 club in career digs earlier this month against Grand View. Last weekend, Plummer tallied 20 digs in three matches.

Off the Platform
The Lions defense and serve receive has been extremely consistent this season with Cory Buehler at libero, and Casey Calder and David Poole coming in to play defense. Lindenwood is making less service errors than its opponents and have a .961 reception percentage. On defense, the Lions are averaging 9.9 digs per set and usually out-dig their opponents in the match. The team is also averaging 11.4 assists a contest and has only seven ball handling errors on the season.

Bench Mob
Head Coach Ron Young has been using his depth from the bench to give his starters a break. Austin Tudor had a big weekend where he appeared in the Ball State and Milwaukee Engineering matches. Tudor posted a .500 hitting percentage on the weekend along with recording six digs and an ace.

David Poole has helped the Lions defensively this season as well, averaging 0.58 digs a set. Setters Christopher Cox and Kevin Schmalzried played this weekend where both posted an assist while Schmalzried also posted one dig and an ace.

First Timers
The match ups on Wednesday will be the first time that any of these teams have met. Lindenwood-Belleville is in its third season as a program and are looking to join the NAIA in 2013. The Lynx only played the Lions junior varsity team when Lindenwood was in the NAIA.

Fontbonne began its program in 2006 as a club sport and it became a NCAA program in 2008. Similar to Lindenwood-Belleville, the Lions varsity squad has never played the Griffins in an official match.

Up Next
After Wednesday night, the Lions will travel down the highway to take on Missouri Baptist on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. The contest will take place at the new Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex. Last time these teams met, the Lions beat the Spartans in three straight sets.

About the Lynx
The 2010 spring semester marked the inaugural season for men's volleyball at Lindenwood-Belleville. The program competes against NAIA, NJCAA and some NCAA teams.

Sara Thomas is in her first year as the Lynx head coach after spending three years as a volunteer coach. Thomas is a graduate of Missouri State where she played four years. She was a four-time player of the week, MVC Defensive Player of the Year, and was awarded first team All-MVC.

About the Griffins
Fontbonne is coming off a pair of losses where it fell to the Quincy Hawks twice on Monday night. The Griffins record is currently 1-9 going up against many NCAA programs to start the season.

Head coach of Fontbonne is Matt Bright. Last season, he led the Griffins to an 8-15 overall record and fourth-place conference finish.