The Lindenwood men's volleyball team (1-0) closes out its brief homestand to begin the season, hosting No. 2 Long Beach State (1-0) on Wednesday night inside Hyland Arena. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.

SERIES INFORMATION – LONG BEACH STATE
Overall: First Meeting
In St. Charles: 0-1
In Long Beach: 0-2
Neutral: 0-1
Last Meeting: January 14, 2023, Long Beach, 3-0

FIRST SERVE

• The Lions are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Rockhurst last Friday
• It is Lindenwood's first time winning a season-opener since 2021
• In the match, Brendan Louthain had a career-high 13 kills, while also leading the team in hitting percentage at .478, which was also a career-best
• The Lions finished the match hitting .385
• Lincoln Geist made his first start as a true freshman at Libero and compiled 13 digs
• Ian Schuller was the other Lindenwood player with double-digit kills at 11
• Owen Walsh finished the match with eight terminations and hit .667 in the middle. He also had four blocks during the match
• Long Beach currently sits at No. 2 in the AVCA Poll
• The Beach are the highest ranked team to come to St. Charles since UCLA in 2019 when the Bruins were also ranked No. 2 in the country
• The Black and Gold have never beaten Long Beach State with an 0-4 all-time record
• The last meeting between the two squads came in 2023, a 3-0 victory for Long Beach State
• Head coach Joe Kosciw enters his eighth season at the helm of the program and his 12th at Lindenwood.

2025 OUTLOOK
The Lindenwood men's volleyball team currently has 15 matchups against ranked teams on its 2025 schedule. The squad was picked to finished sixth in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Preseason Poll earning 38 points. Ian Schuller returns for the Lions. A year ago, Schuller earned Defensive Player of the Week honors one time during the year and his 183 digs led the team. He compiled 319 kills during the season, second most on the team on his way to garnering second-team all-conference honors.

UP NEXT
Lindenwood will head out to Northridge, Calif. for a pair of matches this weekend, taking on UC Sandiego at 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday and CSUN at 9:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.