The No. 20 Lindenwood men's volleyball team (14-11, 9-7 MIVA) opens the MIVA Tournament, hosting No. 19 Purdue Fort Wayne (14-11, 8-8 MIVA) on Saturday night. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. CT.

SERIES INFORMATION – PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Overall: Purdue Fort Wayne leads 15-10
In St. Charles: 6-7
In Fort Wayne: 4-8
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: March 29, 2024, Lindenwood, 3-0

FIRST SERVE

• The Lions enter the tournament on a six-game winning streak after taking two matches from Queens this past weekend.
• During the streak, Lindenwood has dropped a total of four sets.
• As a result, the Lions earned the No. 4 seed and the right to host. This is the squads highest finish since joining the MIVA back in 2013.
• For the first time in program history, Lindenwood cracked the AVCA/NVA National Collegiate men's volleyball poll, coming in at No. 20.
• During the two games last week, Clay Wieter tallied 22 digs and had 25 receptions without an error, which helped him earn MIVA Defensive Player of the Week.
• Lindenwood will be looking to take the season series against Purdue Fort Wayne as each team has won on its home floor.
• The Lions are on the hunt for its first MIVA Tournament win since 2015 when they took down Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2.
• The Mastodons enter the matchup on a three-game win streak and are ranked 19^th in the poll.
• Connor Sheehan continues to lead the entire country in assists per set at 11.22.
• Sheehan, Wieter, Ian Schuller, and A.J. Lewis each earned second team all-conference as announced by the MIVA on Thursday.
• Head coach Joe Kosciw enters his seventh season at the helm of the program and his 11^th at Lindenwood.

2024 OUTLOOK
The Lindenwood men's volleyball team currently has 13 matchups against ranked teams on its 2024 schedule. The squad was picked to finished sixth in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Preseason Poll earning 41 points. Lindenwood returns key pieces to their lineup for 2024, including A.J. Lewis, RaShawn Bonner, and Ian Schuller, who all garnered all-conference honors a year ago. Lewis was named to the preseason all-MIVA team for the upcoming year. Last season, Lewis led the team with 39 service aces and was second on the team with 249 digs.

UP NEXT
The MIVA semifinal will be on Thursday, April 18, hosted by the highest remaining seed. The bracket will re-seed prior to the semifinal.