CHICAGO, Ill. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (23-11, 14-4 OVC) falls short in a five set battle vs. Nebraska-Omaha (17-14, 14-2 SL) during the opening round of the NIVC. The Lions finish a historic 2024 season where they were crowned OVC Tournament Champions, their first in program history.

Lindenwood's offense was led by senior outside hitter Nyah Wilson who had 12 kills in her final match at Lindenwood. Wilson finished her career with 991 kills, the third most during the NCAA era. She hit .194 on 36 attempts while adding eight digs.

Ashley Geluck also had 12 kills in the middle for the Lions. It marked her 11th match this season with over 10 kills. Geluck hit a team-best .381 on 21 attacks while adding three blocks. Addy McAleer also chipped in seven kills and a team-high four aces.

Rebecca Janke made history on Thursday with her 1,091st kill which is not the most in Lindenwood history during the NCAA era. Janke finishes out her career with 1,094 kills and ranks second in blocks with 346. She also leads the program in total points with 1,350.5. In the match, Janke had 11 kills while hitting .310 and added three blocks.

Graduate setter Allie Otten had 36 assists marking the 27th time she has posted over 30 assists in a match this season. Otten also grabbed 10 digs for her 25th double-double of the season. She ends her career as Lindenwood's all-time leader in assists with 3,490 and was named the 2024 OVC Setter of the Year.

Jessie Seidel led the way defensively with 16 digs. As a team, Lindenwood had 52 digs and six blocks. Seidel leaves Lindenwood as the all-time leader in digs with 2,339 and the all-time leader in aces with 157. Dana Grib also contributed nine digs and one ace.

It was a battle at the service line as each team had eight aces. The Lions, led by McAleer with four, had five different Lions record an ace. Lindenwood recorded 11 service errors compared to the 20 the Mavericks had which helped Lindenwood take the match to five sets. It tied Omaha's most service errors in a match this season.

As a team, Lindenwood had 49 kills and 42 assists while hitting .149. The Lions had 13 kills in the second set while hitting .212 as they were able to claim their first set of the match. Geluck had four kills in the set while Janke and Autumn Bax added three each. Bax ends her freshman campaign with 329, the most in a season by a Lindenwood freshman. She was named the OVC Freshman of the Year.

After claiming the third set after seven service errors by Omaha, the Mavericks battled back to tie the match in the fourth set. Lindenwood battled back in the fourth set to cut the lead to 18-20 after being down 13-19 but fell short of the comeback.

During the fifth set, Lindenwood trailed by one at the 13-14 mark after an over the net was called to give the Lions' life. Emily Huss for Omaha had the final kill in the match as Omaha will advance to face the winner between DePaul and Toledo.

Lindenwood ends the 2024 season with a 23-11 record, their most wins since 2011 before Lindenwood joined the NCAA and Division II. For more information on Lindenwood women's volleyball go to lindenwoodlions.com.