Lady Lynx Volleyball Win Home Opener in 5 Sets

[August 30, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Women’s Volleyball team claimed their first victory as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Tuesday evening with a thrilling five-set win at home over Judson University (NAIA).

The Lady Lynx struggled in the early going of the match as Judson’s offensive attack kept them off balance and LC’s passing game in serve receive did not allow them to side out efficiently enough to avoid falling behind. Judson took advantage of Lincoln’s inconsistent play to take the first two sets 25-21 and 25-21.

“We had a hard time finding our rhythm in this match,” said Lincoln Coach Mark Tippett. “Judson burned us on tips several times and it took us a while to figure out how to defend against their middles running behind the setter.”

Despite their early match difficulties, Lincoln was able to get off to a stronger start in set three which began the turnaround. Junior right side hitter Mattie Geise (Highland Park) earned a kill for Lincoln’s first point then freshman outside Morgan Meyer (Batesville, IN) scored three service points in a row to stake LC to a 4-1 lead. Lincoln would maintain a three-to-five point advantage for most of the rest of the set, eventually holding off a late Judson rally to win it 25-23. Set point came after a long rally that ended on a strong kill from junior right side hitter Mikayla Seibert (Mackinaw) with the assist coming from freshman setter and Lincoln Community High School grad Morgan Lolling.

In set four, LC played with renewed confidence that showed in an improved passing game and several strong offensive attacks. Junior outside hitter Kaylyn Hoffert (Lincoln) broke out with four kills in the set while fellow juniors Elysa Smith (Metamora) and Mattie Geise each had three kills to help LC win set four 25-21 and force a deciding set to 15.

 junior right side hitter Mattie Geise

In the fifth set, junior setter Emma Derry (Augustana) served two quick points to put Lincoln ahead. After a Judson side out, Derry found right side Mattie Geise for a kill down the line followed by another Geise kill to put LC up 4-1. Lincoln rode the momentum of their strong start to a 15-12 set five win to take the match and improve their record to 1-4 on the year.

Coach Tippett was impressed with the improvements he saw in his team’s performance. “I liked the way we hung in there after dropping the first two sets,” he commented. “We made the adjustments necessary compete and never got down on ourselves. That kind of mental toughness is a good sign this early in the season.”
Kaylyn Hoffert and Mattie Geise would finish the match with 16 kills each. Emma Derry recorded 26 set assists and Morgan Lolling had 16 assist on the night. Mikayla Seibert tuned in eight kills and Elysa Smith had five kills and three blocks. Sophomore libero Megan Gilliam (Waterloo) led the defensive effort for LC with a team high 20 digs.

Lincoln is off until Friday when they will travel to Webster University for a triangular set of matches against Webster and Westminster University.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]