Lindenwood women’s volleyball (6-6, 2-2 OVC) finally returned home to the friendly confines of Hyland Arena and made quick work of the UT Martin Skyhawks (1-14, 0-4 OVC), sweeping them in their two game series over the weekend.
Lindenwood took care of business with a quick sweep on Thursday night (31-29, 25-22, 25-21) and a win in four sets on Friday (25-17, 18-25, 28-26, 25-19). The Lions showcased a combination of offensive firepower, defensive resilience, and clutch play, leaving little doubt that they were in control for much of the weekend.
Bax shines over the weekend
The reigning OVC freshman of the year, Autumn Bax, continues to be the headline player for Lindenwood as she led the squad with 32 kills over the two matches and tallied 10 digs on Thursday for her first ever double-double in a Lions uniform.
Ashley Geluck contributed 22 total kills on the weekend, while Jade Roth added 10 kills and six blocks in the second match. The Lions continue to wait to see who will step up along with Bax and Geluck to be a reliable third weapon for the Lions offense as Roth had 14 kills in the series and freshman Kylie Richey had a solid weekend tallying 12 kills over the seven sets.
On the defensive side, Lindenwood’s back row and front line proved strong, with Dana Grib recording 21 digs in the first match and the team finishing with 13 blocks in the second contest compared to UT Martin’s five. Greta Shadewald and Amelia Thro orchestrated the offense effectively, combining for 58 assists across the two matches, with Shadewald posting a season-high 37 in the opener.
“We made some changes to the line up and we did a good job of working through some of those growing pains tonight,” said Lions head coach Will Condon. “We asked our players to step outside of their comfort zone and that is not easy to do, but they responded like we needed them to. Martin put us in some stressful moments, but I like how we were able to battle through those and find a way to close out sets.”
Errors continue to pile up
Lindenwood’s biggest issue on the weekend was the amount of errors that piled up and led to low hitting percentages with the Lions committing 20 attack errors on Thursday and hitting just .174 while improving on Friday having just 19 errors over four sets and a team hit percentage of .233.
The Lions’ aggressive playstyle forced UT Martin into 27 errors in the first match and a hit percentage of just .085. Followed up by 31 errors and a hit percentage of .121 in the second match. This disparity in errors contributed significantly to Lindenwood’s control over the matches.
Additionally, the Lions’ defensive efforts were evident as they registered 57 digs in the first match and 52 in the second, compared to UT Martin’s 53 and 55. Lindenwood’s ability to capitalize on the Skyhawks’ mistakes and maintain consistent defensive pressure was a key factor in their successful weekend series.
Lindenwood stays home as they welcome SIUE to town on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. before hosting a rematch of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference championship from a season ago as Morehead State comes to St. Charles for a two game series on Oct. 10 and 11. All three matches will be streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
