The Lions defeated Ohio State in four sets for a 3-1 win Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes gave the Lions a fight for the entirety of the match, exchanging points between them. On the first set, freshman Phil Swartz recorded a kill to win the first set 25-21.

During the second set, the Lions trailed 18-22 but one kill by Swartz and two errors by the Buckeyes cut the Lions deficit 21-22. Once the match was tied 25-25, both teams kept exchanging points, but a service error by Ohio State and a kill by Swartz ultimately gave the Lions the win for a 30-28 score.

“My heart was racing the entire time we were in extra points,” Swartz said. “The same thought kept going through my head: ‘Do not mess this up for your team, Phil’.”

In the third set the Lions started slow and were trailing by nine points. They never caught up to the Buckeyes , and finished with a 17-25 loss.

The fourth set started slow again for the Lions, but three mistakes from Ohio State and two kills from the Lions put them in the lead for the rest of the match. The Lions won 25-20.

According to the Lindenwood Lions website, Swartz led the Lions with 14 kills and recording a .462 attack percentage plus three digs and three aces. Adam Brewster recorded 40 assists while Connor Hipelius recorded nine kills and a team-leading .667 attack percentage.

“We tried a different line-up and it worked to our advantage,” Brewster said. “Had some great production out of the outsides which we had been kind of struggling all season.”

The Lions are now 8-5 overall and 4-6 in MIVA matches. The Lions will have their last home tournament next Friday against Ball State at 7 p.m. at Hyland Arena.

“Our team just has to have another awesome week of practices and keep that chemistry we had against Ohio state and bring it to Ball State next weekend,” Swartz added.