The Lindenwood men's volleyball team (9-14, 6-9 MIVA) defeated Queens (10-18, 2-13 MIVA) in four sets on Thursday night from Hyland Arena.

MATCH OVERVIEW
Lindenwood fell behind early in the first set, 7-3. The Lions eventually pulled within one after an ace from Ian Schuller made the score 10-9 in favor of the Royals. Queens then rattled off the next five points to go up 15-9 at the media timeout. The Black and gold battled back late in the set and tied it up 19 apiece. The two teams managed to trade points into extras and the Lions had a chance to win it but were stuffed at the net. Lindenwood stayed with it and a few points later, back-to-back kills from Brendan Louthain secured the set for Lindenwood at 32-30.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second set as a kill from Carter Stenmark tied the stanza up at 10. Lindenwood eventually gained some separation late in the set at 20-18, but the Royals answered back and took a 22-21 lead which forced a Lindenwood timeout. The set would be tied at 24 and Queens took the next two points to earn the set and tie the match at one.

Queens jumped out to a 7-3 lead once again in the third set, but the Lions rattled off the next four points capped off by an Owen Walsh block, tying the score 7-7. The seesaw battle continued in the frame with the score being tied at 15 and 20. A kill from Schuller, followed by an ace from Louthain gave the Lions a 24-22 lead and they would hang on for the set at 25-23.

The Lions hit .464 in the fourth set to help secure the win. A kill from Schuller put the Lions up 9-5 and Queens needed a timeout. Out of the break, Schuller fired an ace further extending the lead. Lindenwood maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the set and took the fourth 25-21 and the match 3-1. Louthain had eight of his match-high 18 kills in the final frame.

MATCH LEADERS
Owen Walsh (13 kills, .632 hit %, four blocks)
Jose Vargas (57 assists, seven digs)
Ian Schuller (15 kills, .314 hit %, six digs)

UP NEXT
The Lions will host Queens for Senior Day on Saturday to close out the regular season. First serve is set for 12:00 p.m.