Coming off a hard-fought five set win against Southern Illinois on Friday night, the Lions were able to sweep Austin Peay 3-0 Saturday afternoon to improve their record to 4-4, and finish off a perfect homestand.
It was an all-around team effort for the Lions, but they were led by Addy McAleer’s 10 kills. Nyah Wilson chipped in with nine kills of her own to go along with two aces, 16 digs, and a block. Wilson’s game Saturday came freshly off becoming just the sixth Lindenwood women’s volleyball player to achieve 1,000 digs in a career. Freshman Autumn Bax had seven kills, as the young right side hitter had a powerful lefthanded swing working on many occasions throughout the match. Five different Lions picked up at least five kills in the win. As a team, the Lions finished with 41 kills, a .302 hitting percentage, five total blocks and nine aces on the afternoon. Setters Allie Otten and Abby VanBuskirk split duties as primary passers within the Lion offense tallying 19 and 15 assists respectively. Jesse Seidel led the way defensively for the Lions tallying 22 digs. Wilson, Seidel and Bax were all named to the Lindenwood Invitational All-Tournament team for their performances over the weekend.
The Lions won the first set 25-19 over the Governors in what was, by most standards, their worst set of the match. McAleers led the way for the Lions with four kills in a set that only saw the Lions as a team have 11 and have a .211 hit percentage, their lowest of the day. Even though they tallied a lower amount of kills the Lions were able to score an astounding six aces throughout the first set. Jessie Seidel and Wilson both had 2 while VanBuskirk and McAleer each had one.
The Lions followed up their first-set victory with a 25-18 win in the second set. Bax came alive in this set achieving six of her seven kills in this set fresh off a season high 18 kills the night before. Lindenwood improved their team hitting percentage to .359 in the second set and were able to capitalize on six attacking errors made by Austin Peay. Wilson continued her stellar afternoon by adding four kills to her stat line in the second set.
The Lions finished off the sweep with their best set from start to finish that ended with the Lions coming out on top 25-14 giving them their first sweep of the season. McAleer and Wilson combined for seven of the 15 kills Lindenwood tallied in the set. Lindenwood kept improving as the match went on and the third set was the pinnacle in which Lindenwood’s defense held Austin Peay to a .025 hitting percentage, achieve three blocks and improve their own team hitting percentage to .333.
Overall, it was a very comfortable and easy win for the Lions which is what they needed after the lengthy five set match the day before. If it hadn’t been for a few runs made by Austin Peay, the first two sets could have been much more of a blowout. The Lions will return home for their opening OVC conference matchup against defending OVC champion, the Eastern Illinois Panthers on Friday, September 27 at 6:00 pm.
