LC volleyball team wins home tournament

[September 12, 2011]  The Lincoln College volleyball team went 4-0 this weekend to successfully defend their title at the second annual Hampton Inn Classic.

The eight-team tournament featured teams from Region 24, the Chicago area, St. Louis and Iowa.

Lincoln (8-2) won their pool with victories over St. Louis Community College (25-16, 25-20, 25-18), College of DuPage (25-14, 25-11, 25-16) and Region 24 foe Rend Lake College (23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-22).

LC advanced to the championship match to face Southeastern Community College from Burlington, Iowa. The two teams met in the final of last year's tournament, which saw LC win in a five-set thriller. The Lady Lynx did not have as much trouble defeating the Hawks this time around, though, as Lincoln jumped out to an early lead in set one and cruised to a 25-17, 25-17, 25-12 three-set sweep to win the tournament.

Lincoln College tournament totals:

• Jenna Merkel: 21 kills, 14 digs, 20 points, 7 aces

• Chelsea Rhoades: 27 kills, 10 blocks

• Kristen Wright: 52 set assists, 23 points

• Vicky Arriola: 47 set assists, 36 points, 7 aces

• Megan Tompkins: 30 digs, 27 points, 8 aces

• Courtney Reinken: 16 kills, 3 blocks

• Kelly Anderson: 20 kills, 9 points, 10 digs

• Jana Wright: 16 digs, 21 points

• Kristi Naylon: 10 kills, 11 blocks

• Jacqui Kane: 14 kills, 6 blocks

• Beth Daniels: 4 kills, 4 blocks

• Stefani Martin: 11 points, 3 digs

LC coach Mark Tippett commented:

"I was extremely proud of the effort our team put forth to win this tournament. We played fundamentally sound volleyball from start to finish and deserved to win the championship.

"Our passing off of serve receive was excellent, and our blockers made things very tough for the opposition throughout the tournament. Once again we were able to sustain a balanced attack and get positive contributions from every player on the team.

"It is a lot of fun to work with this group of players, and it is great to see them improving from week to week."

Tournament notes: Sophomore middle hitter Chelsea Rhoades (Rushville) and freshman libero Megan Tompkins (Naperville) were named to the all-tournament team. ... Rend Lake College defeated Danville Area College in five sets to win the third-place match.

Lincoln College will host Danville Area College on Wednesday evening at 6.

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Online:

Lincoln College volleyball

[Text from file received from Lincoln College]