ST. CHARLES, MO. - The Lindenwood men's volleyball team (1-2) got their first victory of the year in a 3-0 sweep against the NJIT Highlanders (RV) (1-2) on Wednesday evening in Hyland Arena
"The guys tonight did a great job executing the scouting report we had," said Head Coach
Joe Kosciw. "In addition to that, we were able to stay aggressive and focus on the little details we wanted to control. It was a great response to what we've been trying to build and work on over the last week or so."
OVERVIEW
The Lions came out looking confident on their home court, matching the Highlanders point for point before getting out in front with a 6-4 lead. NJIT kept trying to claw their way back up, but the Lions inched further and further away from them each time, maintaining a steady 4-5 point lead for a great chunk of the set. Various Highlander errors worked in the favor of the momentum-driven Lions, who were playing clean offense and defense all over the court. Finally, Lindenwood was able to secure the 25-19 victory on an attacking error from NJIT, tremendously setting the pace for what was to come.
The second set was staring off similarly, but this time NJIT had the slight early lead. The Lions remained in control, however, finding their way back into that familiar 6-4 lead thanks to a momentum shift that started with back-to-back aces from
A.J. Lewis. Although NJIT would attempt to come back yet again, the Lions continued to stay out in front, looking like a well-oiled machine with their 9-5 lead.
Things got tied back up at 12-12, then 13-13, then 14-14. 15-15 and 16-16 came after as well, but Lindenwood kept cruising along and forcing the Highlanders into more errors. A huge block from
Ian Schuller and
Kadin Warner on the 21st point would put the crowd in a frenzy, and from there it was smooth sailing for the Lions. NJIT wasn't able to turn the tables, and two errors in a row for the visiting Highlanders accounted for Lindenwood's 24th and 25th point.
Set three kicked off with a 5-1 lead for the Lions, looking like a seemingly easy road to the sweep, but NJIT didn't go down without a fight. Things would eventually get to 7-6, still in favor of the Lions, but a narrow lead nonetheless. Lindenwood would knock down three points in a row, digging NJIT into a deeper hole once again, and from there, the momentum remained consistently in favor of the Lions.
Both teams compiled a .212 hitting percentage, looking evenly matched on paper, each swinging on 33 attempts as a collective. The teams were neck-in-neck with service errors as well, but NJIT had slightly more attacking errors with six as opposed to Lindenwood's four in set three.
Things definitely got close again when the score read 23 LU-22 NJIT, but the Lions held on strong to secure their 25-23 victory that would end with a big kill from Warner. He would end the night with the second most kills for Lindenwood with eight total, generating the highest hitting percentage with an impressive .636 (8-11).
Tied at the top of the leaderboard on the attacking side of things were Lewis and
Clay Wieter, each tallying nine total kills a piece and contributing 13 points each. Defensively,
Kyle Deutschmann held down the fort with nine total digs to lead the way in that category for Lindenwood. Warner, Wieter and
Rodney Wallace had a block party with two total blocks each, and
Connor Sheehan led the way in the assist category with 29 total on the night.
Lewis also had an impressive four service aces to add to his stat line, while Wieter was right on his heels with three total, making for a dominant effort for both of them behind the line tonight.
LEADERS
A.J. Lewis (9 K, .286 A%, 4 SA, 3 DIGS)
Clay Wieter (9 K, 3 SA, 5 DIGS, 2 BLK)
Kadin Warner (8 K, .636 A%, 2 BLK)
UP NEXT
The Lions will head to California this weekend, opening up their trip against USC on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. CST.
