The Lindenwood men’s volleyball team (2-3) swept Charleston (1-6) 25-20, 25-14, 25-12 on Sunday afternoon. The Lions hit .493 during the match, and were led by Brendan Louthain and Ian Schuller who tallied 12 and 11 kills respectively. The Lions held Charleston to a .167 hit percentage in the match and tallied 10 blocks in the match.
The Lions jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead in the first set and forced a Charleston timeout after an emphatic block by Owen Walsh. Walsh would tally three of his team’s five blocks in the set and end the match with five total. Lindenwood would maintain a comfortable lead the rest of the set, and closed out a 25-20 set 1 win. They hit .423 as a team and were led by six kills from Schuller.
Lindenwood swung even better in the second set, hitting an other worldly .682 clip. The set started fairly close with the teams being tied at 3-3 before the Lions roared out to a 15-8 lead capped off by a kill from Aidan Curcuru. Schuller would finish off the 25-14 set two win with an ace and the Lions would gain a substantial 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lions would finish off the sweep with a comfortable 25-12 set three win. They quickly jumped out to a 10-5 lead and led 15-6 at the media timeout before cruising to the easy set win and match sweep. Louthain had five kills in the set as the Lions hit .368 in the penultimate set, and forced six attack errors from Charleston.
The win was a much needed one for Lindenwood after losing both of their matches at the Under Armour Classic in California.
“Offensively it was great to see some guys gain confidence, and on the defensive side we were simple and got some great touches. I’m proud of the way this group responded and executed, and look forward to getting back to work for another tough match next Saturday.” were the words coach Joe Kosciw had to say in the postgame following the sweep.
Lindenwood will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. as they play host to Maryville University streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
