Lindenwood Makes It Four Straight With 5-Set Win Over W. Illinois

MACOMB, IL - The Lindenwood University women's volleyball team earned its fourth straight win and stayed unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play, thanks to a three sets to two victory, Tuesday night against Western Illinois.

The Lions trailed two sets to one, going into the fourth set, but were able to pull that one out, then edged the Leathernecks in a tight fifth set to secure the win.

Lindenwood is now 9-6 on the season, with a 3-0 record in the OVC. Western Illinois is 8-6 overall and 2-1 in league play.

"Western is a solid team with a lot of returners," Lindenwood head coach Will Condon said. "They do a great job of defending and making it tough on you. We knew this was going to be a battle. Any win on the road is big and starting off the road swing this way is great."

Grad student team captain Rebecca Janke had a career night for the Lions. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker from Rolla, had a career-high 20 kills and posted a .362 hitting percentage, with just three hitting errors on 47 kill attempts.

Janke became just the third player in Lindenwood history, during its NCAA era, to go over 900 kills for their career.

Lindenwood had three other players reach double-figures in kills on Tuesday. Ashley Geluck had 18, Autumn Bax had 12, and Nyah Wilson had 11.

"I thought we just did a great job of adapting," Condon said. "Ashley and Rebecca were scoring well and often. I thought all of our passers in serve receive did a great job."

The defense was a vital part in the Lions victory on Tuesday as they posted 100 digs. Lindenwood's libero Jessie Seidel led the way with 29 marking her second highest total of the season. Five different players had over 10 digs including Dana Grib coming off the bench with 13. Addy McAleer also had nine kills and 16 digs.

Allie Otten powered the offense as the primary setter passing for 57 assists against Western Illinois. It marked her new career-high in assists and the sixth time in her career she has gone over 50. Otten also had 13 assists for her ninth double-double of the season.

Lindenwood's offense produced 17 kills during the first set but had nine attack errors to help the Leathernecks take the set by a score of 25-18. Middles Geluck and Janke had five and four kills respectively to lead the Lions offense during the first. Seidel also produced 10 digs on defense.

The Lions bounced back in the second set with a reversal score of 25-18. Five different Lindenwood players had a kill including five from outside hitter Wilson. Defensively, Wilson added eight digs. The Lions hit .300 during the second set.

Western Illinois took advantage of an early lead in the third set going up 10-18 on Lindenwood. The Lions battled back to close the gap to 21-23 but WIU closed the set winning 25-22. Janke had six of her 20 kills in the third set.

It was all Lindenwood the rest of the night as they took the fourth set by the largest margin of victory of the night (nine points) winning 25-19. Lindenwood hit a match-high .325 while posting 16 kills and only three errors. McAleer added five kills while Otten had 10 assists and two aces.

Lindenwood closed out the fifth set on Tuesday winning 15-13 earning their fourth straight victory. LU went up 8-4 going into the middle of the set, but WIU tied it up at 13-13. WIU had two attack errors to finish the set including an error into a block by Janke and McAleer. Janke also had four kills in the closing set.

"Win or lose we have to learn at this point in the season," Condon said. "We have a lot of matches to go but we are definitely proud of this team's grit and determination."

The Lions will be back in action on Friday, when they'll head over to Edwardsville to take on longtime foe SIU-Edwardsville. First serve at SIUE's First Community Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m.

2024 Lindenwood Lions Women's Volleyball Schedule
Aug. 30 vs. Central Michigan -- L 2-3 (0-1)
Aug. 30 vs. Bellarmine -- W 3-1 (1-1)
Aug. 31 vs. Illinois State -- W 3-2 (2-1)
Sept. 6 vs. Florida Gulf Coast -- L 2-3 (2-2)
Sept. 6 vs. Northeastern -- L 0-3 (2-3)
Sept. 7 vs. Dartmouth -- L 1-3 (2-4)
Sept. 13 vs. Southern Illinois -- W 3-2 (3-4)
Sept. 14 vs. Austin Peay -- W 3-0 (4-4)
Sept. 15 at Missouri -- L 1-3 (4-5)
Sept. 20 at Kansas City -- W 3-0 (5-5)
Sept. 20 vs. Bradley -- L 1-3 (5-6)
Sept. 21 vs. Montana -- W 3-1 (6-6)
Sept. 27 vs. Eastern Illinois* -- W 3-0 (7-6)
Sept. 28 vs. Eastern Illinois* -- W 3-0 (8-6)
Oct. 1 at Western Illinois* -- W 3-2 (9-6)
Oct. 4 at SIUE* -- 5 pm
Oct. 5 at SIUE* -- 3 pm
Oct. 10 vs. Tennessee Tech* -- 6 pm
Oct. 11 vs. Tennessee Tech* -- 5 pm
Oct. 18 at UT Martin* -- 6 pm
Oct. 19 at UT Martin* -- 2 pm
Oct. 24 vs. Tennessee State* -- 6 pm
Oct. 25 vs. Tennessee State* -- 6 pm
Oct. 31 at Morehead State* -- 4 pm
Nov. 1 at Morehead State* -- 11 am
Nov. 5 vs. Western Illinois* -- 6 pm
Nov. 14 vs. SEMO* -- 6 pm
Nov. 15 vs. SEMO* -- 6 pm
Nov. 19 at Little Rock* -- 6 pm
Nov. 20 at Little Rock* -- 6 pm
Nov. 24 at Ohio Valley Conference Tournament -- TBD
* - denotes Ohio Valley Conference game