Match #22
Lindenwood (14-7, 8-1 OVC)
vs. Tennessee State (5-16, 1-7 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Thursday, Oct. 24
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo. | Hyland Arena
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Match #23
Lindenwood
vs. Tennessee State
Match Information:
Date: Friday, Oct. 25
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo. | Hyland Arena
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood's women volleyball returns home to St. Charles, Mo. to take on the Tigers of Tennessee State starting on Thursday, Oct. 24th and continuing on Friday, Oct. 25th for homecoming. Both matches will start at 6:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

In just there two years Lindenwood has been in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Lions have posted a 3-2 record against TSU including two wins in Nashville, Tenn. last season. Lindenwood's first Division I season in 2022 came to a close after a tough five set loss vs. TSU at the OVC Championships in Martin, Tenn.

Last weekend saw Lindenwood continue their historic run through the OVC after defeating UT Martin by scores of 3-0 ad 3-1. Nyah Wilson led the way with 29 total kills including 24 on day two. Her 24 kills tied the Lindenwood NCAA Division I record in kills in a match.

Tennessee State battled Little Rock last weekend and lost both matches in five sets. Their lone win in OVC play came in a five-set home win against the Cougars of SIUE. They are currently on a two-match losing streak.

Lindenwood has started OVC play hot leading in many offensive categories. They current lead the league (OVC Stats) in points per set (17.94), hitting percentage (.249), assists per set (13.45), kills per set (14.48) and second in total kills (481). The Tigers rank 11th in points per set (14.21) and kills per set (10.88).

Preseason OVC Rankings
The OVC released their 2024 women's volleyball preseason poll earlier this season where Lindenwood was selected to finish in fifth place. The Lions had the third best record in the conference last season earning as the third seed at the OVC Tournament.

Southeast Missouri State was voted as the preseason favorite in 2024 with six first-place votes and a total of 167 points. Last year's OVC Champions Eastern Illinois was picked to finish right behind them with 166 points and five first place votes.

Morehead State (163 points/five first-place votes), Tennessee Tech (152 points/four first-place votes) and Lindenwood (145 points/one first-place vote) round out the top five in the OVC poll. The top five schools were separate by just 22 points.

Lindenwood also landed two players on the Preseason All-OVC team. Wilson and Jessie Seidel were selected after both received Second Team All-OVC honors last season. Otten was voted as a player to watch as she returns for her sixth season.

Last Weekend Recap
Women's volleyball kept their win streak alive with two key victories over UT Martin in Martin, Tenn. last weekend. The Lions improved to an OVC-best 8-1 during conference play including five straight wins.

Wilson was Lindenwood's best outside attack providing 29 total kills including 24 during LU's 3-1 victory on Saturday. The senior hit .316 on the weekend with just four attack errors on 79 swings.

Freshman Autumn Bax added another 20 kills to her resume to put her season total at 195. She needs 104 kills this season to claim the most kills by a freshman in Lindenwood history (Bailey Dvorak - 298).

Faith Atkins came in for the Lions off the bench providing a spark with nine kills including a career-high six last Saturday. Setter Allie Otten also provided 66 assists on the weekend with an average of 9.43 per set.

Player To Watch
Otten can become just the third Lindenwood Lion in program history (NCAA era) to reach 3,000 assists for their career this weekend. She sits at 2,969 assists for her career at Lindenwood (Otten spent her freshman season at Illinois State).

Statistically, Otten has been one of the best setters in the conference this season amassing 772 assists which is second best in the OVC. Her average of 9.41 ranks fourth in the OVC. During OVC play, Otten leads all setters with an 11.36 assists per set ratio and is second in total assists with 375.

OVC Top Ten Stats
Janke climbs the leader board in overall stats ranking second in hitting percentage with a .348. Of those qualified for hitting percentage, Janke has the  third most kills with 198. Bax also ranks sixth in hitting percentage with a .298 mark while posting the fourth most kills (195), She also ranks fifth in kills per set averaging 3.10 and 10th in points per set averaging 3.28.

Otten continues her strong season at setter ranking fourth in the conference in assists per set with an average of 9.41. Her 772 total assist also ranks second. Seidel ranks fourth defensively in digs per set after averaging 4.85. She is second in total digs with 398.

Scouting the Opponent
Tennessee State Category Leaders    
Kills: Jayla Holcombe - 244
Assists: Sagaia Reilly  - 381
Aces:  Celestial Miller - 30
Digs: Hadley Pride - 374
Blocks: Storm White - 90.0

Up Next:
Lindenwood goes back on the road for the long trip to Morehead, Ky. to take on Morehead State starting on Thursday, Oct. 31st. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.