ST. CHARLES, MO. - The Lindenwood Men's Volleyball team (15-2, 6-1 MIVA) extended their winning streak to six matches on Wednesday night with a sweep over Blemont Abbey College by scores of 25-19, 25-22, and 25-22. Junior Opposite Hitter Luke Kraft finished the contest with a match-high 16 kills on a hitting percentage of .462, while Senior Outside Hitter Brendan Louthain added 11 kills to record his 11th match this season in which he has surpassed 10 or more kills. The Lions ended the match as a team hitting .434 for the second straight time and have hit .400 or better in six matches played during the 2026 season. 

To open up the first set, Kraft, Louthain, and Owen Walsh all had early kills followed by a service ace from Caden Whiteside to quickly take a 4-1 lead. Belmont Abbey cut the deficit to one a few times throughout the set, but Lindenwood used an 11-4 run later on to open up a 19-11 lead. Kraft and Louthain each had two more kills to highlight the run, while the Lions added three service aces with Walsh having two and Zach Solomon picking up one. The Crusaders cut the lead down to four at 21-17, but Kraft picked up his fourth and fifth kills of the set to extend the lead by a score of 23-17 and LU would go on to take the first set 25-19. 

In set two, Louthain and Kraft continued to make their presence known as they each recorded an early kill to put Lindenwood up 4-0. Later in the set, Louthain served up two service aces to make it 10-6 in favor of the Lions, but Belmont Abbey responded by evening the set six different times with the last time being 19-19. Solomon got LU back on track with a service ace to give the Lions a 21-20 lead after briefly trailing 20-19, and the trio of Whiteside, Louthain, and Kraft closed out set two by combing for the final four kills and taking the middle set by a score of 25-22. 

The third set saw Belmont Abbey open up a 15-10 lead halfway through, but Lindenwood came back by going on an 8-1 run to take an 18-16 lead late. Luke Kraft and Brendan Louthain fueled the run once again for Lindenwood as Kraft used two service aces and a kill to cut the Crusader lead to one at 15-14, before Louthain recorded a kill and a service ace to give the Lions a 17-16 lead. Amir Grant had a key block to put the Lions in front 18-16, and recorded the final kill of the night for the Lions to give them a three point lead at 24-21 before Lindenwood closed out the third and final set 25-22 and completed their third straight sweep.  

The Lions will return to action on Friday night at #13 McKendree with first serve set for 6 p.m. CT.