COSTA MESA, CA. - The Lindenwood Men's Volleyball team (1-1, 0-0 MIVA) bounced back in a big way after dropping their season opener last night at #3 Long Beach State with a 3-0 sweep over Vanguard University by scores of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-22.
Luke Kraft led the way for the second straight match offensively, tying for a match-high 13 kills on a .545 hitting percentage. Defensively,
Amir Grant led the Lions with three blocks and
Lincoln Geist led LU in digs with eight.
Owen Walsh had the first kill of the match for Lindenwood in the opening set to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Lions. The Walsh kill sparked a 5-2 run to give the Lions a 7-3 cushion early on as
Brendan Louthain and
Luke Kraft each had a kill during the run while Kraft also added a service ace. Later in the set, LU went on a 6-1 run to pull away from Vanguard as
Caden Whiteside and Kraft each added two kills during the Lions second big run of the set. LU went on to win the opening set 25-18 and were led by Louthain and Whiteside who each recorded four kills. In the middle set, the Lions dominated from start to finish as they took the second set by a score of 25-12. The Lions had runs of 10-2 and 9-3 and were led by
Luke Kraft who had six kills in the second frame.
In the third set, Vanguard opened on a 5-0 run to immediately put some pressure on Lindenwood. The Lions responded with a 4-1 run thanks to a kill from Louthain and service aces from Whiteside and
Zach Solomon to cut the Vanguard lead to two at 6-4. The two teams traded the next several points with Vanguard still clinging to a lead at 11-8 midway through the third set. On the next point, Solomon recorded a block to put the score at 11-9 in favor of Vanguard. The block by Solomon sparked yet another Lions run that eventually gave LU their first lead of the set by a score of 13-12. Vanguard retook the lead at 18-15 later on in the set, but
Brendan Louthain recorded back-to-back service aces that tied the score at 18-18. The Lions closed out the set and picked up their first victory of the 2026 season after Solomon recorded a service ace that gave the Lions a 21-20 lead and
Luke Kraft closed it out with three straight kills to finish with 13 kills in the match.
As a team, Lindenwood had nine service aces and hit .429 compared to Vanguard's .169 and two blocks. Solomon once again led the Lions in assists with 32 while Geist picked up two assists and Whiteside added one.
The Lions will now head home and prepare for the Under Armour Challenge which will be held in Hyland Arena. LU will host #11 CSUN on Friday, January 16 at 7 p.m. CT for their first game of the Under Armour Challenge.
