Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball takes 2nd & 3rd at MWPVC Championship

[April 11, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball program made quite a splash at the Mid-West Plains Volleyball Conference (MWPVC) Championship Tournament hosted by Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE). Both LC squads advanced to the Gold Division of the event with the A group finishing in 2nd place and the B team taking 3rd.

On day one of the 25 team event, Lincoln A (#1) had little trouble winning their morning pool. The Lynx claimed two-set wins over the University of Arkansas, the Kansas University B team and the St. Louis University B team. Lincoln B had a tougher road in their pool, but managed an upset victory over Missouri S&T (#11) in three sets then defeated Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and SIUE in two sets.

Both Lincoln teams then moved into the same afternoon three-team power pool along with Washington University (#13). Lincoln A defeated Wash U in two sets (25-21, 25-23) then Lincoln B took down Wash U 25-18, 25-15. This set up a Lincoln vs Lincoln match to decide the outcome of the pool. In that match Lincoln A was able to control the tempo of play in set one to take it 25-16, however in set two, it would take a late comeback for Lincoln A to defeat Lincoln B 26-24.

The strong day one performance from both LC teams placed them in the eight-team Gold Division for single-elimination play on Sunday. In round one, LC A dispatched Bradley University 25-21, 25-23 while LC B faced the Lewis University A team (#16) and was able to down them 25-20, 25-21. The first round victories advanced each team to the semifinal round where LC teams accounted for half of the final four teams at the event.

LC B Team: Top Row: Mark Tippett, Kyle Murphy, Kenny Koster, Brandon Savage, Will Moore, and Luey Marquez.
Bottom Row: Miguel Reyes, Trenton Kielion, and Andrew Martinez

Lincoln B put up a good fight in their semifinal match against St. Louis University A (#2), but was unable to keep pace with the Billikins and fell 25-18, 25-13 to end their magnificent run with a 5-2 record and a share of third place.

LC A Team: Top Row: Charles Carter, Ramon Matos, Michael Wesley, Candace Company, Deantrius Coleman, Jonathan Vargas, Greg Scott, and Mark Tippett.
Bottom Row: Corey Poindexter, Bryan Orellana, Michael Konczal, and Jodiel Poeymirow

Lincoln A received a strong challenge from the University of Missouri A team in their semifinal match and were able to prevail in three exciting sets 21-25, 25-22, 15-12. The win moved them on to the tournament final where they would face SLU (A). The meeting would be the third time this season that Lincoln A and SLU A met in the final match of a tournament. Lincoln came out on top of the previous two matches, but this time SLU was ready for the Lynx and able to earn a convincing 25-22, 25-17 victory to claim the Conference Championship. LC finished with a 7-1 record for the weekend.

Lincoln Coach Mark Tippett was proud of the way his teams performed. “Our guys played hard and represented themselves extremely well at this highly competitive event,” he said. “It was disappointing for the A group to lose to SLU in the final, but there is no shame in dropping a match to the defending national champs. Up to that point, we were definitely clicking,” he added.

According to Tippett, the LC B team was “the surprise story of the weekend,” due to the fact that they were able to defeat three ranked teams even though they were playing with a new lineup. “One of our regulars was out with the flu, so it was impressive that the B group was able to come together to pull off several upset wins,” Tippett said.

Lincoln will finish their season this week at the National Club Volleyball Federation Championships held in St, Louis, Missouri. Lincoln A will compete in the Division II tournament and look to improve upon last year’s 5th place finish. The B team will participate in the DIII tournament which features B teams from universities and colleges from both the DI and DII division. Play begins on Thursday, April 12th and will go through Saturday, April 14th.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]