Number 9 Ranked LC Downs St. Ambrose JV in Three Sets

[February 09, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball team traveled to St. Ambrose University Wednesday evening looking for a little revenge. Just ten days earlier, the St. Ambrose JV handed them a five-set loss at home which did not sit well with the Lynx.

“Dropping that match to St. Ambrose at home was a wake-up call for our guys,” said LC Head Coach Mark Tippett. “It led to some changes in our system and certainly had them ready to play tonight.”

Lincoln may have also received a bit of a confidence boost going into this match due to the fact that this week the team was ranked #9 in the nation by the National Club Volleyball Federation (NCVF) among teams competing at the DII level.

In set one against St. Ambrose, the fired up Lynx jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind the serve of junior setter Greg Scott (North Chicago). Lincoln would maintain a three to five point lead for most of the early going until a four-point run by SAU tied the score at 16-16. At that point the Lincoln’s front row blockers came alive and began to disrupt the St. Ambrose offense. Four points scored off of blocks and several altered shots would lead to a 25-22 opening set win for LC.

In set two, Lincoln looked confident and was able to reduce their errors both on offense and from behind the service line. LC used a balanced offensive attack and disciplined defense to lead all the way and take the set 25-16. Lincoln outside hitters Corey Poindexter (Overton, MO) and Jonathan Vargas (Puerto Rico) were reliable options in set two as they racked up several kills with limited hitting errors. Poindexter would go on to lead the team in kills for the match with 8 and Vargas would end up next in line with 7.

The Lynx road the momentum from their convincing set two win to open up a large lead in set three and cruise to a 25-12 win to end the match.

Lincoln freshman right side hitter Ramon Matos (Chicago) was a strong presence at the net for the Lynx all night long.

Matos notched six kills and added two blocks to help his team to victory. Middle hitters and fellow North Chicago High School grads Michael Wesley and Dentrius Coleman were also effective throughout the match. The duo combined for eight blocks and seven kills on the night.

Much of LC’s impressive offensive output was set up by the defense efforts and accurate passing of libero Joudiel Poveymirow (Puerto Rico) and defensive specialist Trenton Kielion (Princeton). Povymorow led the team in digs with 11 while Kielion added eight digs of his own. Jonathan Vargas led the team in service points with 12 while setters Greg Scott and Brian Orellana (Chicago) each recorded ten set assists.

Coach Tippett praised his team’s effort. “We looked like a team that was not going to accept failure tonight,” said Tippett. “A few unforced errors hurt us in set one, but we cleaned those up in sets two and three nicely which made a huge difference.”

Prior to the varsity match, LC and St. Ambrose played a best two-of-three JV match which St. Ambrose was able to win 25-21, 25-20. Lincoln freshman Luey Marquez (Orlando) led his team in kills with nine and setter Miguel Reyes (Puerto Rico) had nine set assists. Ramon Matos also played in this match and had five kills and four blocks.

Lincoln College now has an overall record of 7-4 on the season and will host the opening event of the Midwest Plains Volleyball Conference (MWPVC) season on Saturday. Lincoln will enter two teams in the ten-team tournament with play beginning at 8 AM Saturday morning. Both the Lincoln Center and the Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium will be utilized for this event.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]