Match # 10
Lindenwood (4-7, 0-0 OVC)
vs. Western Illinois (2-8, 1-0 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 20
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo. | Hyland Arena
Live Stats: Stats

Matchup
Lindenwood women's volleyball returns home to start Ohio Valley Conference play as they host new OVC member Western Illinois on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 6:00 p.m. This match was originally scheduled as an away match for the Lions, but was moved to Hyland Arena.

Both teams participated at the Bear Invitational last weekend hosted at Missouri State. Lindenwood suffered two losses by scores of 3-1 against Missouri State and Arkansas State. Western Illinois also lost their two matches against the same teams.

Western Illinois posted a 1-8 non-conference record this season including a win against Idaho at the Cougar Classic hosted by fellow OVC member SIUE. WIU also picked up their first OVC win against SIUE that week with a 3-2 victory.

The Lions were picked to finish seventh this season in the OVC during the preseason voting. Western Illinois, after coming over from the Missouri Valley Conference, was picked to finish in 10th.

Last Week Recap
To start the Bear Invitational, Lindenwood took on host school Missouri State last Thursday. The match ended in a 3-1 loss despite the Lions taking the first set by a score of 26-24.

The Lions jumped out early with a 5-1 advantage to start the set. Missouri State would flip the switch taking a five point lead, 15-10. The first set ended in back and forth action with the Lions taking the win.

Four different Lions had four kills in the first including freshman Anna Kraemer and Jade Roth. Addy McAleer also chipped in four. Libero Jessie Seidel added a team-high 12 digs to lead the defense in the first set. MSU would take the next three sets to earn the win.

The Lions won the first set against Arkansas State in their next match on Friday, but could not maintain their momentum as they dropped their fifth match in a row by a score of 3-1.

Lindenwood opened up with a set one victory for their third straight match after winning 25-19 against the Redwolves. LU was down 9-5 early on before making a run to tie the match at 12 each. Lindenwood took their first lead at the 17-16 mark and score the next eight of 11 points to take the win.

Nyah Wilson led the attack group with five kills in the first set. Wilson also eclipsed 400 career kills against ASU. Five different Lions posted a kill while Lindenwood hit four service aces to claim set one. ASU won the next three to knock off the Lions.

Seidel was named to the All-Tournament team after posting a total of 55 digs in two matches including a season high 29 against MSU. She would later be named the OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts.

OVC Top Ten
Three Lions make their way into the OVC Top Ten this week. Setter Allie Otten currently ranks seventh overall in total assists with 269. She also is eighth in the OVC in assists per set with an average of 6.40. Otten has helped the Lions rank fifth in the OVC in hitting percentage with a .184.

Rebecca Janke has a total of 39.0 blocks on the season which is sixth in the OVC. Her blocks per set sits at 0.93, the seventh best mark in the conference. The Lions average 1.79 blocks per set.

Seidel continues her great play as she now ranks fourth in total digs this season with 198. She also ranks fifth in digs per set with an average of 4.71. She is one of three liberos in the OVC to win Defensive Player of the Week (Christina Martinez Mundo and Tara Beilsmith),

Player To Watch
Not only did Seidel have an impressive week last weekend (55 digs | 6.88 d/s) but she is making her way up the Lindenwood career leaderboard. She currently ranks fourth all-time in program history in digs with 1312. She is only 16 away from moving into the top three and 132 away from being the career leader. Her 4.27 d/s career average is also second best in program history.

Scouting the Opponent
Western Illinois Category Leaders         
Kills: Keyana Cruse - 144
Assists: Maggie Craker - 358
Aces: Brittany Wulf - 11
Digs: Karli Wenzel - 195                        
Blocks: Julianna Schmidt - 37.0

Up Next:
Lindenwood continues their stretch of four straight home matches as they host SIUE on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 6:00 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.