The Lindenwood men’s volleyball team (3-8, 0-5 MIVA) dropped a four-set match (30-28, 22-25, 18-25, 22-25) to the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-7, 3-2 MIVA) on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Lions’ fifth straight, dropping them into last place in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association standings.
Jacob Christopher and Brendan Louthain paced the Lions with 13 kills each, as the Lions hit .303 up from Thursday’s performance against Ball State in which they hit a season-low .135. The 13 kills from Christopher were a new season-high for him, as the Lions still try to figure things out with star outside hitter Ian Schuller, who is out with a possible stress fracture injury.
Lindenwood was the first team to 10 in the opening set, following a pair of aces from Carter Stenmark and Amir Grant. Ohio State would battle back and use a 4-1 run to take a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Lindenwood would throw its own punch and tie the set at 20 apiece, before going on their own 4-1 run to get set point at 24-21.
The set would go into extra points, with each team battling off set-points before Owen Walsh put down back-to-back service aces to give the Lions a 30-28 set one win, their first since they played Maryville on Feb. 1.
Set two continued at the same back-and-forth pace as the first, with Ohio State being the first team to 10 and Lindenwood going on a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 lead. The Buckeyes, however, would regain the lead at 20-19 and never look back. The Lions would get within one at 22-21 but a 3-1 run capped off by a Shane Wetzel kill would give the Buckeyes set two and tie this match at 1-1.
Set three saw the Buckeyes storm out to a 10-5 lead and not look back holding the Lions to a .211 hit percentage and winning the third set 25-18. Zach Soloman, who left Thursday’s match with an injury, had 27 assists by the end of set three.
The back-and-forth pace returned for the fourth set as Ohio State held slim 10-9 and 15-13 leads. Lindenwood would battle back and get within one multiple times at 16-15, and 19-18 but the Buckeyes always had the answer eventually putting away the match with a 25-22 set four win.
The Lions now head out on a four-game road trip starting first on Friday, Feb. 28 at 6 P.M. against Purdue Fort-Wayne, before heading to Ball State, and then a pair of matches against Hawaii in Honolulu.
