ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (18-9, 12-3 OVC) picked up a huge win on Thursday evening defeating SEMO (15-12, 12-3 OVC) by a final score of 3-1. The Lions now move into sole possession of first place winning the tie break ahead of match two tomorrow evening.
"I think we knew that this was going to be a battle and it lived up to expectation," said head coach
Will Condon. "SEMO did a good job of making things tough for us and challenging our hitters. I thought that we did a good job of adjusting over the course of the match. Allie did a great job of spreading out the offense and keeping everyone involved. Jessie was every where on defense and did a great job of digging hard driven balls. Both Ashley and Rebecca did a great job of scoring and getting some timely blocks. Addy came on strong in set 4 and made some big plays. Autumn scored some big points for us in tough situations and really showed a lot of range and mixed her shots. Nyah played a solid game and filled up the box score in a lot of areas. Dana did a great job of defending, passing and serving."
Multiple Lions chipped in to help Lindenwood past SEMO. Four different attackers registered 10+ kills on Thursday including
Rebecca Janke who had a match-high 14 kills. Janke became the second ever Lindenwood Lion during the NCAA era to record over 1,000 kills for their career. In the first set, Janke recorded her third kill to reach this milestone. She ended the night hitting .300 on 40 attempts while also leading the team in blocks with seven (four solo).
Autumn Bax went over 10 kills again for the 15th time this season recording 13 on Thursday. The right-side had 35 swings while hitting .200.
Nyah Wilson also added 12 kills and 15 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Wilson also added two solo blocks.
Ashley Geluck also had 11 kills (her most in her last 11 matches) while hitting a team high .409 on 22 attempts. Geluck was part of the middle tandem with Janke that had 25 total kills and nine blocks. Lindenwood as a team had 11.0 blocks which marked their most this season.
Graduate student
Allie Otten put-up over 50 assists registering 52 on the night marking the fourth time this season (second straight match). She was also second on the team in digs with 21 for a double-double.
Jessie Seidel led a team that posted 96 digs with 31 of them. She has gone over 30 digs four times in 2024.
The first set set the tone for the rest of the match as there was 10 ties and four lead changes. After being tied 19-19, Lindenwood ended the match on a 6-2 run to capture the first point. Wilson led the way with five kills and seven digs while Janke added three kills and four blocks.
Lindenwood stumbled in the second set as SEMO evened the match at 1-1 by a final score of 20-25. The Lions were held to a .059 hitting percentage in the second which was the lowest of the match. Otten assisted on all 12 kills in the second.
Coach Condon rallied his team in the third set to take a 2-1 advantage by winning 25-22. Lindenwood trailed by as many as four (18-14) in the third but the Lions stormed back to take the lead. Janke punished the middle in the set with six kills while Seidel added 10 digs.
Lindenwood clinched their most conference wins (12) in a single season during the NCAA era after winning the fourth set by a final score of 25-20. Bax ended the night with five kills while Seidel added another 10 digs.
The Lions and Redhawks will battle again on Friday, Nov. 15th at 6:00 p.m. CT to end the series, For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.
