MOREHEAD, Ky. - Lindenwood beach volleyball (13-8) split their two matches on Thursday to start the Ohio Valley Conference Championships hosted on the campus of Morehead State. The Lions defeated #6 Eastern Illinois (3-14) before losing to #2 Chattanooga (17-9) during the last match of the day.
MATCH 1
#3 Lindenwood - 3
#6 Eastern Illinois - 0
Lindenwood started Thursday's action with a 3-0 sweep of the Panthers from Eastern Illinois after taking the first three duels. During postseason competition, play stops once a team reaches three match points.
The five pair of
Amber Schade and
Elise Llorens automatically won their match due to a forfeit by Eastern Illinois.
Abby VanBuskirk and
Kailee McGee also won at the four pairs against Laura Paniagua and Kate Dean by scores of 21-15 and 21-19.
All-OVC First Team selections
Nyah Wilson and
Maider Soto were able to clinch the opening round win at the one pairs with scores of 21-12 and 21-14 vs. Kaitlyn Flynn and Sylvia Hasz. It marked the first ever win for the Lions at the OVC Championships.
Abby Jacobs and
Katie Malzahn led their match at the two pairs with a score of 21-16 before the match was called.
Jessie Seidel and
Annalie McWhorter also were leading their duel at the three spot after taking the first set with a score of 21-9.
MATCH 2
#3 Lindenwood - 0
#2 Chattanooga - 3
The Lions fell during their second match on Thursday against Chattanooga by a final score of 3-0. Lindenwood will still compete on Friday during the double elimination tournament.
Schade and Llorens competed again at the five pairing battling tough against Morgan Romano and Julia Lawrence from Chattanooga, ultimately losing in two sets by scores of 19-21 and 13-21.
VanBuskirk and McGee also suffered a loss at the number four pairs with scores of 13-21 and 12-21. Seidel and McWhorter were the final pair to finish on Thursday vs. Chattanooga and lost by final scores of 14-21 and 10-21.
Jacobs and Malzahn were unable to finish their match. They lost their first set by a score of 11-21 but were leading the second set by a score of 13-11. Wilson and Soto also lost their first set in close fashion by a score of 19-21 but were leading 13-10 when the match was called.
Lindenwood will now face #5 Tennessee Tech on Friday, April 26th at 11:00 a.m. CT. The match will be live on ESPN+. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.
