CHARLESTON, Ill. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (9-9, 5-2 OVC) upset the last undefeated team in conference play Eastern Illinois (16-2, 6-1) in five sets on Friday evening in Charleston, Ill. The Lions hit 56 kills on a .199 hitting percentage.

"I thought we just did a great job of competing and adapting and finding ways to win points," said head coach Will Condon. "It was a close match and obviously they have a great team, so for us to compete at this level on the road says a great deal about what this team is capable of doing.  We had a bunch of players come off the bench in what may seem like smaller roles but they made plays and made it possible to get the win."

The Lions started off the evening hot with a set one victory 25-20. Lindenwood hit .526 in the set with 11 kills, three by Rebecca Janke and Ozge Tan. Nyah Wilson also had two aces in the set.
 
At the first media timeout of the night, Lindenwood led 14-11 after a reversal call on a challenge by EIU. The Panthers would get within two points before Lindenwood finished them off with a Tan kill. Eastern had six service errors in the set.
 
Eastern Illinois got even with the Lions in the second after posting 13 kills on a .265 hitting percentage. The Lions were down 10-3 early and could never regroup after hitting .171 for the set. Addy McAleer led the Lions with three kills while Allie Otten added eight assists.
 
The Lions continued to capitalize on the Panthers mistakes as they took the third set 25-22. Down 7-3 early on, Lindenwood battled back to tie the match at 12-12 and 16-16. EIU then took 4-0 straight points to go up four 20-16.
 
Despite letting the Panthers go on a run, Lindenwood came back to tie it at 22-22. Wilson took control of the match from there on with two straight services aces. Tan then put the finishing touches on the comeback with a solo block.

The fourth set belonged to the Panthers as they settled down Lindenwood's offense holding them to a .091 hitting percentage and 10 kills. EIU gave the Lions a taste of their own medicine with three aces in the set.

Heading into the fifth set, Otten made a diving play to start the set which resulted in a LU point. Wilson and Janke overpowered the Eastern defense with a combined nine kills in the last set, helping the Lions take down the current OVC leader.

"I thought EIU did a great job of setting the bar and holding us accountable for our mistakes.  We learned what we needed to do and were able to create those small plays, touches at the net, out of system sets that made it possible for us to score points and get to 15 first," said Condon.

The Lions will be back at it tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. for a rematch against Eastern Illinois in Lantz Arena. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.