NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (13-12, 9-5 OVC) took down the Tigers of Tennessee State (2-22, 2-12 OVC) in four sets securing their first weekend sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference season. The Lions have also set a new Division I record in wins (13) and OVC wins (9).

"Looking at the weekend as a whole I thought this was a great team performance," said head coach Will Condon. "Our offense was balanced and well distributed, a credit to Abby VanBuskirk and Allie Otten.  They did a good job of finding hot hitters and moving the ball around."

Rebecca Janke led the group that posted 58 kills and a .302 hitting percentage. Janke had a team-high 14 kills (most in eight matches) and hit .423 on 26 attempts while adding five service aces. She also led the way on defense with four blocks. Nyah Wilson was one kill shy of her 12th double-double, notching nine kills and 10 digs.

Lindenwood controlled the first set picking up a 25-18 victory. The Lions offense was in effect early picking up 14 kills as a squad on a .303 hitting percentage. Five Lions had multiple kills in the first set including four from Janke. 

The Lions defense did exactly what it has been doing over the weekend forcing Tennessee State into a .036 hitting percentage and only nine kills. LU also had three blocks and two aces in the first set.

Tennessee State took home their only set of the weekend in the second after defeating Lindenwood 23-25. The Lions still hit well registering 14 kills on a .222 hitting percentage. The Tigers' defense was able to stop our attackers picking up four blocks in the second to take the set point.

Lindenwood bounced back in the third taking a 2-1 advantage with a 25-15 set win. Early on in the third was a back and forth set with five tie scores but the Lions took control and won by double digits. Janke added another four to her total while VanBuskirk added six assists. Otten also added four assists and four digs in the third.

The Lions would come out victorious this weekend with a 3-1 win on Saturday and a fourth set score of 25-20. Lindenwood put up an astounding 18 kills on an efficient .361 hitting percentage. Freshman Anna Kramer and Wilson both put up four kills each in the fourth. Seven different Lions put down a kill in the score sheet during the fourth.

"The serve receive was solid and we did a good job of adjusting to TSU's serving strategy. Anna had great weekend and Allie did a great job of getting into one on one match ups where she was taking advantage.  This was helped by Jade and Rebecca being very efficient and creating seams and holding blocks. Overall it was impressive to see the progression this week.  I feel like we are moving in the right directions when it matters most.  We have some tough matches to end the year but I am confident we will embrace that challenge," said Condon.

Kramer ended the match with 10 kills giving her back-to-back double digit outings. Jade Roth and Addy McAleer also added nine kills each. Otten ended the afternoon with 24 assists while VanBuskirk added another 23. Libero Jessie Seidel added 13 digs.

The Lions will be at home for the final time during the 2023-24 season as they host Southern Indiana starting on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 6:00 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.