NORMAL, Ill. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (2-1, 0-0 OVC) defeated host school Illinois State (1-2, 0-0 MVC) at the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic by a final score of 3-2. The Lions finished off their opening weekend with a 2-1 record.
"This was a great team win," said head coach
Will Condon. "Obviously we started off slow but the important thing was how we responded. Illinois State has a lot weapons and they were able to make adjustments so we were constantly having to adapt."
Rebecca Janke was a force in the middle for the Lions registering a team-high 19 kills on 31 attacks. Janke committed just one attack error posting a team-high .581 hitting percentage. She finished off the weekend with 33 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Janke also had three blocks in the win.
Addy McAleer was the other Lion to register over 10 kills in this match. She led the Lions over the weekend in kills with 37.
Nyah Wilson,
Anna Kraemer and
Ashley Geluck all had nine kills each as attackers. Lindenwood had 61 total kills in the match compared to 43 by the Redbirds of ISU.
Allie Otten returned to Illinois State and posted 45 assists in the five set win. Otten had over 100 assists on the weekend posting 133 for an average of 9.50 per set.
Jessie Seidel from the libero spot also had 10 assists and 14 digs.
Dana Grib led the Lions' defense with 19 digs while dropping two aces including one in the fifth set.
"I think this is one of those matches where you can use this experience to help you throughout the season," said Condon. "Rebecca showed she can score a lot of different ways and really kept them off balance. Dana did a great job this weekend balancing out our defense."
Lindenwood's offense hit .152 on the evening while ISU hit .164. Both teams were even behind the service line with eight aces each despite LU posting 13 service errors. Lindenwood and Illinois State were also dead even in digs with 72. Five different Lions registered at least eight digs in the win.
During the first set, Lindenwood fell behind early and never could seize the momentum back. Lindenwood's offense hit .000 in the first while ISU hit .226. The Lions responded in a back-and-forth set two pulling out the victory 25-22. Janke and McAleer combined for 11 of the team's 17 kills in set two.
Lindenwood took advantage of some miscues by Illinois State in the third winning 25-15 to take a 2-1 advantage. ISU was held to a -.103 hitting percentage in the set with nine attack errors to just six kills. Lindenwood's defense also had three blocks in the third.
After ISU tied the match in the fourth set, Lindenwood bounced back in the fifth closing the match out and claiming second place at the tournament. LU opened the set with a 9-4 advantage and never gave up the lead. Janke and Kraemer both had three kills in the closing set.
Lindenwood will be back next weekend at their second non-conference tournament of the season when they travel east to the Northeastern Tournament in Boston, Mass. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.
