ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (5-7, 1-0 OVC) earned a win in their first Ohio Valley Conference match of the season against OVC newcomer Western Illinois on Wednesday by a score of 3-0. It marked the first sweep of the season for the Lions.

"I thought we did a great job of containing the two outsides from Western.  We knew they were going to score points because that is what they always do, but we were able to make enough plays defensively to make it harder on them," said head coach Will Condon.

The offense jumped out to a great start with 18 total kills in the first set. The Lions hit .333 in the first while limiting themselves to just four errors. Freshman Jade Roth was dominant in the set with a team high six kills on nine attempts. Libero Jessie Seidel posted nine digs and three assists in a 25-20 set one victory.

Lindenwood never trailed the rest of the match and only had one tie in each of the last two sets. LU took the second set by a final score of 25-19 and continued to post good offensive numbers while stepping up on defense.

After being held without a block in the first set, the Lions posted three total blocks in the second including two block assists from both Roth and Rebecca Janke. Addy McAleer was the leading hitter in the set with four kills. Abby VanBuskirk also provided two service aces.

Seidel also moved into the top three at Lindenwood in digs with her 13th dig in the second set. She now is just 111 digs away from becoming the all-time digs leader at the NCAA level in school history.

Wednesday's first conference match of the season came to a close in the third as the Lions took control with a 25-17 third set to take home their first OVC win of the season. The third set saw the Lions hit over .300 for the second time tonight and had 17 kills.

McAleer had her best set of the night in the third with seven kills to lead Lindenwood. She would end the match with 15 kills, two service aces and seven digs. Allie Otten was effective on offense posting eight assists to end the match. Otten helped LU hit .261 for the entire match.

Janke finished the night with eight kills and three service aces, all coming in the first set. Otten posted a double-double with 21 assists and 12 digs while Seidel added 21 digs, her fourth straight match with at least 20.

Western Illinois' leading attacker was Brittany Wulf who had 10 kills on 35 attempts. Maggie Craker had 20 assists and 13 digs for the Leathernecks. They were held to a .142 hitting percentage on Wednesday.

"Overall, we played a very balanced game starting from the service line.  We were able to put them into some tough situations to take some of the pressure off our defense.  We have had a tough preseason and played some quality opponents.  I think tonight showed we have learned some good lessons and find a way to put it all together for three complete sets," said Condon.

The Lions will be back at home on Saturday, Sept. 23 as they continue conference play when they host SIUE at 6:00 p.m. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.