ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (9-10, 5-6 OVC) picked up a pivotal 3-1 win over Western Illinois (7-17, 4-7 OVC) at Hyland Arena on Friday night. The Lions hit .294 as a team with three players in double-digit kills.

Match Overview
The opening set was back-and-forth early, but the Lions ended the frame on an 11-4 run to take a 25-20 victory as Jade Roth led the LU attack with six kills on a .556 hitting percentage. Lindenwood carried their momentum into the second set, using separate runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to claim the frame 25-15. Autumn Bax had her biggest set of the night with six kills.

Lindenwood led by as many as three points in the third set before Western surged ahead 18-17 with a 4-0 run. The Lions would eventually regain a 28-27 lead after turning away multiple WIU set point opportunities, but the Leathernecks rallied with three unanswered points to take the set. Ashley Geluck posted eight kills in the set.

The Lions were put to the test again in the following set as they saw a four point lead dissipate, but with the score tied at 20, Autumn Bax and Ashley Geluck took over, carrying LU to victory behind five consecutive kills.

Autumn Bax and Ashley Geluck combined for 37 kills in the match as both players posted season highs. Bax went for 19 kills on a .341 hitting percentage, while Geluck posted 18 terminations on .273.  

Joining them with double digit kills was Kylee Richey will 11. It was Richey's fifth consecutive double-digit kills performance and her ninth overall on the year.

Meanwhile, Amelia Thro handed out 62 assists for an average of 15.5 assists per set, surpassing her previous career-high of 42 assists set against SIUE earlier this week. It was the most assists recorded in a single game by any player in the OVC this season.

Dana Grib had a fantastic game defensively, racking up a career-high 34 digs for an average of 8.5 digs per set. It was the most digs recorded in a four sets by any OVC player this season, and the second most overall.

Jade Roth led the Lions with five blocks in the match, bringing her scoring total on the night to 11.5 points.

Quotable
"It was good to see the work out players have put in practice come out in competition. We had a good game defensively and created more transition opportunities that we took advantage of to score points. It felt like we were playing as a team and just willing to lengthen rallies and make things hard.", said Lindenwood head coach Will Condon, continue "I thought Western really pushed us in games three and four, but I liked our willingness to battle and work even if the score was not in our favor."

Next Up
The Lions conclude their series against the Leathernecks on Saturday as Lindenwood celebrates Senior Day at Hyland Arena. The match is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m.