In a match that featured just about everything, the Lindenwood women’s volleyball team stuck to their strengths and found a way to squeak out a five-set victory (31-29, 16-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-10) over Tennessee Tech. Lindenwood (22-10, 14-4 OVC) defeated the number three seeded Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (24-8, 12-6 OVC) for the third time this season after sweeping them 6-0 over two matches back in early October. It was also the third straight year the Lions have knocked out the Golden Eagles in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Four different Lions tallied 10+ kills led by OVC First-Team selection Nyah Wilson with 15 kills. Ashley Geluck was right behind her with 14 kills and five block assists. Lindenwood had 10 blocks as a team en route to victory. Rebecca Janke tallied 11 kills and four blocks and the OVC freshman of the year, Autumn Bax, had 10 kills of her own to go along with seven total blocks, and six block assists. Allie Otten had yet another double-double with 49 assists and 13 digs. The service line was a big turning point in the match as the Lions were able to tally seven service aces while the Golden Eagles committed 14 service errors. The Lions were able to overcome OVC Player of the Year, Madolyn Isringhausen having 25 kills in the match and being unstoppable for extended periods of time over the five sets.
Set one saw both teams trade blows with Tennessee Tech grabbing the lead at 10-6 before Lindenwood rallied back to take a 17-13 forcing a Golden Eagles timeout. Out of the timeout Tennessee Tech regained the lead at 19-18 forcing a Lindenwood timeout. The set saw 12 ties and 12 lead changes before Lindenwood was able to put the set away after back-to-back kills from Geluck to give the Lions a 31-29 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match. Wilson and Geluck each had five kills and the Golden Eagles committed six service errors.
Tennessee Tech stormed back in set two gaining an early at 4-3 and never looking back en route to a 25-16 set two win and tying the match at 1-1. Nyah Wilson had four kills in the set but the Lions could only muster seven kills as a team and were held to a .071 hit percentage in the set. Isringhausen was able to tally five kills for the Golden Eagles on a .444 hit percentage.
Following the short break between sets, the Lions came back out energized and ready to play jumping out to a 13-3 lead and never looking back. Tennessee Tech tried to make it close clawing back to 21-14 before eventually falling 25-20 and finding themselves down 2-1 in the match. Six different Lions recorded a kill in the third set as everything seemed to finally be clicking for Lindenwood who tallied their second best hit percentage of the match at .250 and had fourth service aces.
However, the Golden Eagles would not go quietly rallying to win the fourth set 25-18. Lindenwood found themselves down 12-11 before a 5-1 run by the Golden Eagles stretched their lead and made sure this match went the full five sets. Geluck and Janke each tallied three kills in the set but Tennessee Tech tallied 18 kills as a team in the set as they seemed to be finding all the weak spot in Lindenwood’s defense.
Headed into the fifth set and a spot in the OVC championship on the line, Lindenwood’s heavy hitters stepped up. The Lions found themselves only up 9-8 before kills from Bax, Geluck and Janke finished off a 15-10 set five win and a 3-2 match win advancing Lindenwood to their first ever OVC championship game. The trio combined for seven kills in the set and Lindenwood had 10 kills in the set to only one attack error. Lindenwood saved their best for last hitting a match high .375 in the penultimate set and holding the Golden Eagles to only a .174 hit percentage.
Lindenwood advances to play the fourth seeded Morehead State Eagles who upset the number one seed SEMO 3-1 in the second semifinal. Morehead State was the only team to sweep the Lions in the regular season in both matches they played. Lindenwood will be appearing in their first championship match while Morehead State is back for the first time since 2021 when they lost to SEMO in five sets and are looking for their first OVC championship since 2013. The match will kick off at 6:00 pm on ESPN+.
