Match #27
Lindenwood (17-9, 11-3 OVC)
vs. SEMO (15-11, 12-2 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Thursday, Nov. 13th
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo. | Hyland Arena
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Match #28
Lindenwood
vs. SEMO
Match Information:
Date: Friday, Nov. 14th
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo. | Hyland Arena
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood's women volleyball wraps up their 2024 home schedule this weekend as they host the current top seed in the OVC Southeast Missouri State on Thursday and Friday. The Lions currently sit one match behind the Redhawks for the top spot. Friday's match will also celebrate seven seniors for Senior Day. LU also has a perfect 9-0 record at home this season.

The Lions had their bye weekend last week, but did secure a 3-1 victory over Western Illinois on Tuesday. After dropping the first set, the Lions stormed back winning the final three sets on their way to their 11th OVC victory of the season. Their 17 total wins this season marks the most since the 2017 season while their 11 conference wins ties last year's squad with 11 wins.

SEMO currently leads the pack in the OVC with a 12-2 conference record. The Redhawks are coming off two victories over UT Martin on the road. SEMO has won eight of their last nine matches coming into this week's matches.

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 Match Recap
Women's volleyball picked up a huge win over Western Illinois by a final score of 3-1 last Tuesday. The Lions posted 72 kills against the Leathernecks with 65 total assists. It marked the fourth time this season the Lions have posted over 70 kills in a match and the first time in four sets.

Rebecca Janke had a career night on Tuesday after coming back from missing the last five matches due to injury. Janke scored a career-high 26 kills and set the Lindenwood single match record for kills (previously 24 kills). She hit .458 for the match on a 48 swings.

Nyah Wilson and Autumn Bax both had 15 kills on the night. Wilson led the team in attacks with 51 and only three attack errors. Bax posted her most kills since having 17 on October 17th. As a team, the Lions hit .302 which marked the seventh time the Lions have hit over .300.

Allie Otten continued her strong graduate season with 54 assists. Otten proved reliable on defense as well posting her 18th double-double of the season with 15 digs. Five different Lions had assists on Tuesday.

Jessie Seidel led a defensive unit that posted 84 digs, their sixth highest of the season. Seidel posted exactly 30 digs on Tuesday marking the third time this season she had gone over the 30-mark. Wilson also added 12 digs while Addy McAleer added 17 (season-high).

Western Illinois took the first by a final score of 25-23. Lindenwood took a late lead 19-14 when WIU called a timeout. After that point, the Leathernecks stormed back tying the match at 22 and eventually taking set one. Wilson and Janke had four kills each in the first set.

The second set was the closest of the four with 14 tied scores and seven lead changes. Lindenwood scored the final two point after tying the match at 23 including a set-sealing kill by Wilson. Janke was unstoppable with nine kills in the set while Otten added 15.

Lindenwood took a huge 2-1 lead in the third set after winning 25-21. There were 13 ties in the set and five lead changes. The Lions ended the set on a 6-2 run to clinch the third set. Bax and Wilson both had six kills with Seidel adding 10 digs.

The Lions closed out the match winning 25-17 with Lindenwood closing out the match hitting .415 in the fourth. Lindenwood scored 19 kills in the final frame to clinch their 11th OVC win of the season. It marked a season sweep of Western Illinois after LU took down WIU earlier this season in Macomb, Ill.

OVC Top Ten Stats
Janke claims the number one spot in hitting percentage for the second straight week. The middle blocker is hitting .358 during her senior season with just 29 attack errors. Bax also ranks seventh hitting .290 for the season. In kills per set, Bax also ranks fifth averaging 3.16 per set.

Otten ranks fourth in both total assists with 947 and assists per set averaging 9.66. Seidel also ranks fourth in digs per set this season with an average of 4.93 per set.

Wilson and Bax round out the top ten positions with both reaching the top ten in total points. Wilson ranks eighth averaging 3.37 per set while Bax just makes the cut finishing in 10th averaging 3.36 per set.

Scouting the Opponent
SEMO Category Leaders    
Kills: Lucy Arndt - 329
Assists: Megan Holder  - 548
Aces:  Megan Holder  - 48
Digs: Nina Schuberth - 390
Blocks: Alaina Lester - 113.0

Up Next:
Lindenwood will end the 2024 regular season with a trip to Little Rock, Ark. starting on Tuesday, Nov. 19th and finishing on Wednesday, Nov. 20th. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.