Men's Volleyball:  Lynx Win MWPVC Crossover Tournament

[March 07, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball A team (27-3) went a perfect 7-0 over the weekend to claim the championship of the 37-team Mid-West Plains Volleyball Conference (MWPVC) Tournament hosted by Bradley University.

The Lynx B squad also had a good outing at this event, going 5-2 and taking first place in the Bronze division.

LC libero Joudiel Poveymirow picked up his third tournament most valuable player award of the season at this event. Poveymirow led his team in digs with 67 and aces (5). He also served 12 points, several of them key points scored during the championship match.

Lincoln A began their run to the championship on Saturday with challenge match wins over the University of Missouri A team (25-22, 25-14) and the Lewis University A team (25-17, 25-19). From there the Lynx entered power pool play and picked up wins over Missouri S&T (25-21, 25-15) and Butler University (25-20, 25-21).

On Sunday, bracket play began with a rematch against Lewis University. Lewis would had LC their only setback of the tournament in set one as they took advantage of a number of Lincoln hitting errors to win it 25-20. In set two, Lincoln woke up and dominated play to win the set 25-12 then continued to control the pace of play in set three to win it 15-10.

The win over Lewis advanced the Lynx to a semi-final match-up against Missouri S&T. The two teams battled back and forth throughout set one, but Lincoln was able to gain the upper hand late in the set and win it 25-23. The Lynx then road the momentum of their opening set win to jump out to a ten-point lead in set two and eventually take it 25-12.

In the championship match, Lincoln faced a familiar foe in the club team from St. Louis University. LC and SLU met two weeks prior in the final of the Midwest DII Invite. In that match, Lincoln came out on top in three close sets. In addition, SLU came into the match ranked as the #1 DII team in the nation by the National Club Volleyball Federation (NCVF). Lincoln had recently moved up to #2 in the latest poll.

Set one of the championship match was a battle from start to finish. LC and SLU traded side outs and one-to-two point leads all the way up to a 27-27 tie. At that point, a SLU hitting error sent sophomore outside hitter Corey Poindexter (Overland, MO) behind the service line. Poindexter’s serve would be LC’s fifth set-point opportunity. On the ensuing volley, middle hitter Michael Wesley (North Chicago) and right side Charles Carter (Blue Island) teamed up for a block that would go down on the SLU side of the court for set point (29-27).

In set two, Lincoln was able to maintain a slight lead most of the way. Lincoln was up 17-16 when a SLU service error was followed by an ace serve from libero Joudiel Poveymirow to put Lincoln ahead by three (19-16). A quick kill by Michael Wesley off a set from sophomore Bryan Orellana (Chicago) and a SLU hitting error would further extend the lead and force a SLU timeout at 21-16. LC would go on to take the set and the tournament championship with a 25-18 set two victory.

L to R Top Row: Coach Mark Tippett, Jack Lindner, Ramon MAtos, Asst. Coach Candace Sheley, Michael Wesley, Corey Poindexter, Greg Scott, Deantrius Coleman

Bottom Row: Charles Carter, Andrew Matrinez, Joudiel Poveymirow, Brian Orellana

Right side hitters Charles Carter and Ramon Matos (Chicago) were dominating offensive players for LC throughout the tournament. Carter and Matos combined for 79 kills on the weekend with Carter accounting for 40 kills and Matos 39. Matos also led the team total blocks with 10. Middles Michael Wesley and Deantrius Coleman (North Chicago) were also key players for LC. Wesley tallied 25 kills and four blocks while Coleman was good for 22 kills and seven blocks. Outside hitter Corey Poindexter had 25 kills, 30 digs and 15 points on the weekend while fellow outside hitter, freshman Jack Lindner (Oak Lawn) had 23 kills and served 17 points. Setter Greg Scott was the set assist leader for LC with 80 assists and he served 13 points. Brian Orellana led Lincoln with 20 total points served and he dished out 70 set assists.

The MWPVC Crossover championship was Lincoln A’s third tournament championship of the season.

The LC B team started the weekend with tough losses to SIU-Carbondale’s A team (25-19, 24-26, 11-15) and the University of Missouri’s B team (20-25, 25-18, 11-15). In pool play, the Lynx rebounded to take straight set wins over the University of Nebraska-Omaha (25-16, 25-23) and the University of Chicago (25-9, 26-24). On Sunday, they rolled through the Bronze Division bracket play by defeating Truman State (25-10, 25-20), the University of Chicago (25-14, 25-16) and the Lewis University B team (25-23, 25-17).

Lincoln Coach Mark Tippett had high praise for his troops. “We executed well in all phases of the game this weekend,” said Tippett. “The A group has been playing with energy and a drive to win that is so fun to witness. I am incredibly proud of how far they have come and of what they have accomplished during the first half of our season.”

Tippett likes the potential he sees in the LC B team as well. “Our B team got a tough draw in the first round of challenge matches due to the way this event was set up. They fought hard though and gained some valuable experience.”

Lincoln is off until March 15th when they will host Trinity Christian College for two matches. Game times are set for 5:00 PM and 6:30 p.m.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]