Lincoln College Women's Volleyball splits matches at Hannibal LaGrange

[October 02, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Women’s Volleyball team visited Hannibal LaGrange University on Saturday for a triangular set of matches.

LC dropped its first match of the day against Lyon College from Arkansas, but was able to rebound to defeat the host school in four exciting sets.

The Lady Lynx were on the defensive for most of their match against Lyon College. Miscommunications and defensive lapses caused Lincoln to fall behind early in set one. Lyon kept the pressure on and led all the way to take the opening set 25-16.

Set two followed a similar pattern as LC again struggled with their passing game and was unable to slow down the Lyon offense on their way to a 25-18 set two defeat.

The Lady Lynx regrouped in set three and were much more competitive from the start. The Lincoln defense stepped up and was able to create more opportunities to score for LC hitters. At one point, Lincoln held an 18-16 advantage, but a late surge by Lyon halted the comeback and resulted in a 25-20 Lyon win to end the match.

“We did not come out ready to play against Lyon,” said Coach Tippett. “They did a good job of keeping our passers off balance and outlasted us to win a few long rallies early in the match which seemed to zap our confidence,” he added.

Lincoln did not have much time to dwell on the loss as they moved right from the match against Lyon to play Hannibal LaGrange who was looking to avenge a five-set loss handed to them by the Lady Lynx just nine days earlier.

In set one, Lincoln played with renewed energy and the two teams battled hard right from the start. Several log rallies were played in the early going, but neither team was able to go on a sustained run to gain much of an advantage. LaGrange would eventually claim a 21-17 lead then survive a late surge by Lincoln to win the opening set 25-23.

Set two was just as intense as the two teams again traded leads and entertained the crowd with several long rallies. In the end, Lincoln would get the first set-point opportunity at 24-23 after a LaGrange hitting error sent LC’s junior outside hitter Kaylyn Hoffert (Lincoln) behind the serving line. Hoffert came through with an accurate serve, and she earned the set-winning kill on a strong back row attack swing with the assist coming from setter Emma Derry (Augustana). The 25-23 win by Lincoln evened the match at one set apiece.

Set three of this intense match continued the trend of long rallies and slim leads for both teams. The largest lead of the set was held by LC at 14-10, but a 5-1 run by HLGU tied the score at 15-15. From there it was a test of wills as the two teams traded side outs and one-to-two-point leads all the way up to a 24-24 tie score.

An attack error by Hoffert gave LaGrange the first set-point opportunity, but on the next volley, setter Emma Derry went right back to Hoffert who delivered a kill to keep Lincoln alive. The teams traded side outs two more times to push the score to 27-27. At that point, senior defensive specialist Melanie Murray (Chicago) entered the game to serve. Murray delivered two quick points, both of which were scored on HLGU hitting errors, to give Lincoln another narrow victory (29-27).

The thrilling outcome of set three energized Lincoln for set four, and the Lady Lynx roared out to an 8-2 lead. From there it was all LC as they pushed their advantage to as many as ten points at 19-9 then cruised to a decisive 25-14 win to end the match.

LC Coach Mark Tippett viewed the win as a significant one for his team. “I was impressed with the way we bounced back from a pretty poor performance in the first match,” said Tippett. “We did not play well at all against Lyon and LaGrange gave us everything they had. I was proud of the way our players fought through it and ended up playing some great volleyball in the end, much more like what we have come to expect from this team,” he added.

Kaylyn Hoffert was the Lady Lynx leader in kills for the event picking up eight against Lyon and 19 in the HLGU match for a total of 27 on the day. Junior Mikayla Seibert (Mackinaw) totaled 14 kills while right side Mattie Geise (Highland Park) was good for 13 kills and middle hitter Elysa Smith (Metamora) had 11. Setters Emma Derry and LCHS grad Morgan Lolling combined for 71 total set assists. Derry accounted for 36 and Lolling 35. Sophomore libero Megan Gilliam (Waterloo) set the tone on defense by providing 51 digs on the day with 38 of them coming against HLGU.

Lincoln (12-10) will be off until Thursday evening when they host crosstown rival Lincoln Christian University for a 6:30 PM match. At this match, the teams will be recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness month by wearing pink. In addition, donations to aid in breast cancer research will be accepted at the door.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]