DeKALB, Ill. – The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (5-1) wrapped up a successful weekend at the NIU Invitational with wins over Murray State (1-5) and Northern Illinois (2-4) on Saturday.
Match 1 – Lindenwood 3, Murray State 1
The Lions began their day with a 3-1 win over Murray State.
Autumn Bax and
Susanna Beretti headlined the Lindenwood attack with 15 kills apiece as the Lions hit .331 as a team.
Other than a 1-0 deficit to begin the opening set, the Lions did not trail during the contest's first two frames. Lindenwood took set one by a score of 25-19 behind a team-leading five kills from
Susanna Beretti before a match-high .361 team hitting percentage powered a dominant 25-15 victory in the second stanza.
The Racers responded in the third set to extend the match, holding off the Lions after they had cut the deficit to a pair after trailing by as many as six points. Beretti recorded her second five-kill set of the contest as Lindenwood again hit north of .300, but it was not enough to overcome the suddenly hot-hitting Racers, who combined for a .400 attack percentage in the frame after hitting at a clip of just .082 through the first two sets.
Lindenwood bounced back in the fourth set to close out the match, scoring nine consecutive points to break an early 8-8 tie on the way to a decisive 25-15 clincher.
Autumn Bax and
Blair Sitton led the Lions with four kills apiece in the frame.
Sitton finished the match with a career-high nine kills, matching
Lauren Ortwerth for second most on the team behind Beretti and Bax.
Kaci Johnson handed out a season-high 49 assists in the contest for an average of 12.25 kills per set while also registering 11 digs for a double-double.
Meanwhile,
Dana Grib recorded a season-high 20 digs (5.00 DPS) while
Alayna Rudebeck (11 digs) and
Mandy Lawson (10 digs) also reached double digits on the back row.
Lindenwood totaled 10 blocks as a team, with
Ashley Geluck posting five total rejections, including a pair of solo efforts, to lead the squad.
Match 2 - Lindenwood 3, Northern Illinois 0
Lindenwood concluded their weekend in DeKalb with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois. The Lions finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .364, which is the program's second best in the Division-I era.
The Lions trailed by as many as three points in the opening set but were able to overcome the sluggish start with an 11-4 run to gain a four-point advantage before outlasting the Huskies for a 25-23 win. Despite recording six fewer kills than NIU in the set, Lindenwood was able to make up for much of the difference with four service aces.
Set two was all Lions from the start, with LU jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back on their way to a 25-13 decision.
Susanna Beretti registered eight kills in the frame to bring her match total to 11.
Lindenwood had their way in the third set, clinching the sweep with a dominant 25-11 scoreline. The Lions hit an extremely efficient .462 in the frame while limiting their opponent to a -.062 attack percentage.
Susanna Beretti finished the match with a team-leading 13 kills on a .407 hitting percentage, finishing her day with 28 kills (4.00 KPS) across the Lions' two matches.
Meanwhile,
Ashley Geluck finished with 10.5 total points following a well rounded performance that featured four kills, four aces, and four blocks.
Autumn Bax matched Geluck for the team lead in blocks with four rejections while adding seven kills on a .316 hitting percentage.
Kaci Johnson recorded her second double double of the day with 32 assists and a team-high 12 digs.
Quotable
"I thought we did a good job of putting together a pretty complete match as an offense and a defense", said Lindenwood head coach
Will Condon following the Lions' win over NIU. "Kaci did a good job of spreading out the offense, finding hot hitters and keeping them in good situations. Our hitters did a good job of making plays. I also thought our back row did a good job of serving and defending. Continuing, Condon stated that, "Overall, I thought it was a good weekend. I think we learned a little about what we can do as a team when we work together. We still have room to grow but that will come as we get more opportunities to play together."
Next Up
Lindenwood travels to Champaign for a midweek matchup against Illinois at 7:00 p.m. on Wendesday, September 9th before heading to Normal for Linda Herman Volleyball Classic at Illinois State, where they will face Purdue Fort Wayne at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and ISU at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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