CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (11-16, 7-11 OVC) suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss against Eastern Illinois (22-7, 15-3 OVC) in the first round of the OVC Tournament on Sunday evening.

Match Overview
The Lions came out with a purpose and quickly pounced on the Panthers 6-1 in the opening set before EIU was able to claw their way back to within a point. However, LU responded with a another 6-1 run to open up a 22-16 lead that Eastern was unable to overcome, as Lindenwood took a 25-21 set win. Kylee Richey had three solo blocks in the frame.

LU grabbed an early 4-1 lead in set two, but EIU countered with a 9-5 run to take the lead and Lindenwood was unable to regain their advantage, eventually dropping the set 25-21. Ashley Geluck posted four kills in the frame to bring her match total to nine on a .533 hitting percentage.

The Panthers carried their momentum into set three, using a 10-3 run to open up a 15-8 advantage. Following the media timeout, the Lions were able to pull to within as close as three points but could not put it together long enough to challenge for the set, falling 25-20.

The Lions refused to go down without a fight, though, and responded in the fourth set to take a 25-23 win and extend the match. However, Lindenwood was unable to sustain their momentum, and dropped the deciding fifth set by a score of 15-7 to bring the season to a close.

The Lions recorded double digit kills in the match, led by Autumn Bax with 12 terminations. She was followed by Ashley Geluck and Emma Johnson with 11 kills apiece, which was a career high for Johnson.

Kylee Richey ended up as the Lions' leading scorer, recording a career-high nine total blocks including six solo rejections, while adding seven kills for a total of 16.5 points.

Amelia Thro handed out 37 assists while Dana Grib led LU with 14 digs.