The Lindenwood men's volleyball team (6-9, 2-5 MIVA) picked up its third win over a ranked team this season after defeating No. 19 Lincoln Memorial (10-4), 3-1 on Friday night in Hyland Arena.

MATCH OVERVIEW
Lindenwood jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, which allowed them to cruise to a 15-11 advantage at the media. Lincoln Memorial responded with the next three points to get within one, but the Lions answered with a 6-0 run, capped off by a Clay Wieter ace to make the score 20-14. The Railsplitters fought back, but the Lions closed out the first stanza 25-22 and took a 1-0 lead in the match.

Lincoln Memorial won the race to 10 in the second set and held a slim 10-8 lead early. Trailing 14-10, Lindenwood proceeded to go on a 5-0 burst to pull in front as A.J. Lewis had a pair of aces during the run. The two teams traded points until 19-19, when the Lions went on a 3-0 run to gain some separation. However, the Railsplitters bounced back with six of the next seven points to take the set 25-23 and even the match, 1-1.

The Lions responded in a big way during the third set with their best hotting frame of the match at .545. Lindenwood gained some separation before the media timeout with an ace from Ian Schuller, which increased the lead to 15-10. The black and gold never looked back from there, picking up the third set 25-17 after Lewis finished it off with another ace.

The two teams went back and forth early in the fourth set with neither team leading by more than four until Lindenwood grabbed a 15-11 advantage. At 19-15, Schuller rattled off three-consecutive aces to give the Lions a commanding lead. Lindenwood was able to cruise to a four-set victory, finished off by Wieters team-high 15^th kill of the night.

GAME LEADERS
Clay Wieter (15 kills, .481 hit %, eight digs)
Connor Sheehan (41 assists, seven digs, two kills)
RaShawn Bonner (seven kills, .636 hit %, three blocks)

QUOTABLE
"Tonight was a good bounce back of how we're capable of playing", said head coach Joe Kosciw. "The guys made sure to do their jobs and enjoyed playing out there. I'm proud of the response they had as we know we're capable of a lot more and they made sure to go out there tonight and execute. Serving and defense were much better tonight by many of the guys too. Overall, it was a great win against a tough, ranked Lincoln Memorial team.

UP NEXT
The Lions return to MIVA action next Tuesday, March 5 when they host Quincy at 6:00 p.m. inside Hyland Arena