MOREHEAD, Ky. - Lindenwood beach volleyball (15-9) were able to survive and advance on Friday with two wins at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships in Morehead, Ky against #5 Tennessee Tech and #4 Morehead State. The Lions will now move on to the OVC semifinals match against #1 UT Martin on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. CT.

"Today was a historic day for this program," said interim head coach Tyler Fenter. "Every pair made the decision to battle hard for their partners and ultimately for their team. What a special group we have that keeps fighting their way through!"

MATCH 1
#3 Lindenwood - 3
#5 Tennessee Tech - 2

In come from behind fashion, the Lions were down 0-2 after dropping the four and five pairs but stormed back to victory in the final three matches of the day to advance and take on Morehead State later in the afternoon. It marked the first match of the tournament to go all five sets.

All-OVC First team tandem of Nyah Wilson and Maider Soto got the Lions back on track with a two set victory over TTU's Bella Powell and Madolyn Isringhausen by scores of 21-18 and 22-20. The ones remain undefeated at the OVC Championships.

Abby Jacobs and Katie Malzahn then were able to tie the duel at 2-2 with a two set victory over MK Roberts and Skylar Boom with scores of 21-14 and 23-21. Lindenwood was undefeated against TTU during the regular season and looked to continue that heading into the threes pair.

After dropping the first set in the last match of the duel by a score of 17-21, Jessie Seidel and Annalie McWhorter stormed back to tie the series at 1-1 with a 21-17 victory over Brooke Amann and Aleeya Jones. Trailing at one point 7-12, Lindenwood went on a run eventually tying the third set at 14-14. McWhorter would close out the match with a kill and send Lindenwood on to face Morehead State in the final duel on Friday.

Amber Schade and Elise Llorens lost at the five pair with scores of 10-21 and 16-21 while Abby VanBuskirk and Kailee McGee also lost at the four spot with scores of 15-21 and 21-23.

MATCH 2
#3 Lindenwood - 3
#4 Morehead State - 1

Lindenwood's fours and fives responded in a big way in the second match on Friday as they were able to help secure a trip to the OVC semifinals in just the program's second season at Lindenwood University.

Schade and Llorens started out hot in their fourth match of the weekend with a 21-19 and 21-16 two set win over Amelia Nott and Courtney Fitzgerald. The duo evens their overall record for the OVC Championships at 2-2.

VanBuskirk and McGee were ready to avenge their loss against Tennessee Tech as they had a come from behind win during the fours with a three set win. The duo won the first set 22-20 before falling in the second 18-21. After trailing 4-1 early in the third, the Lions rattled off six straight points to take a commanding lead and ended off finishing MSU with a third set score of 15-13.

Once again Soto and Wilson were tasked to come up big for the Lions and that is what they did at the one spot against Sydney Wyman and Bella Marita. Lindenwood's one pair defeated MSU's dup in two sets with scores of 21-9 and 21-19 to claim a spot in the OVC semifinals.

Lindenwood will now face #1 UT Martin at 8:00 a.m. CT tomorrow morning for an opportunity to reach the OVC Championship against #2 Chattanooga. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.