ST. CHARLES, MO. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team downed Tennessee Tech in a huge upset win in three sets on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the OVC Tournament.

"We knew we needed to serve tough to try and slow down Tech's offense," said Head Coach Will Condon. "They have some great hitters that can really hurt you so we needed to keep pressure on them from the service line."

OVERVIEW
The Lions were absolutely dominant right out of the gate, running up the score quickly on the Golden Eagles in the first set. However, Lindenwood had a 24-15 lead and Tennessee Tech was able to close things up in an unexpected eight-point run, forcing the score to read 24-23. The Lions still plunged the dagger, however, taking the first set on a big kill from Nyah Wilson that secured the 25-23 victory. 

That would be the closest that the Golden Eagles would get to defeating the Lions all day, however, because the second set went to Lindenwood in a swift 25-19 victory. As a team, the Lions hit .281 in the second set, with Mackenzi Sifuentes leading the way by recording four kills on six attempts, hitting a very strong .667 individually. The middle blocker would end the day with 10 total kills on 14 attempts, generating an impressive .643 hitting percentage overall.

Lindenwood blew past Tennessee Tech in the third set, with Wilson making things exciting with her long serving run right in the middle of the set. The sophomore outside hitter kicked things off by knocking down back-to-back aces, then proceeded to serve five more times before the Golden Eagles could get the ball back. The Lions led 17-6 at that point, and it was smooth sailing all the way to the end.

The Lions were absolutely dominant on the attack during the third set, hitting .500 as a team on 24 total attempts. At the conclusion of the match, the team hitting percentage for the day was .330 as opposed to Tennessee Tech's .129. 

Team-leading performances came from Sifuentes and Wilson, who each tallied 10 kills a piece. Abby VanBuskirk recorded 31 total assists and also knocked down the most service aces on the day with four total. Jessie Seidel had the highest number of digs with 12 total, and Rebecca Janke led the way in the blocks column with three total. 

"On our side, I thought we did a great job with our defensive intensity," said Condon. "We spread the ball around pretty well and our hitters stayed aggressive.Winning in the post season is always a challenge.  I was impressed with our ability to put the moment aside and have fun and make plays.'

UP NEXT
The Lions will take on No. 6 Tennessee State, who downed No. 3 Morehead State today in a true battle of the "underdogs" tomorrow. For updated times/watch links for tomorrow's match, keep checking back in on 2022 Women's Volleyball Schedule - Lindenwood University Athletics (lindenwoodlions.com)