Lady Lynx Volleyball Go 3-1 at Knox Invite

[September 18, 2018] 

The Lincoln College Women’s Volleyball team finished up a strong week of play by claiming victory in three-out-of-four matches played over the weekend at the Knox College Invitational. In all, the Lady Lynx went 6-1 in matches played last week to boost their overall record to 7-8.

“We had a rough start to our season due to injuries and delays in eligibility,” said LC Head Coach Mark Tippett. “But now that we are healthy and at full strength, we are starting to play at a much higher level and the results this week are more in line with what I expected from this team.”

Lincoln started their weekend with a four-set win over Anderson University (DIII). LC took the first set 25-21, but AU responded with a strong effort in set two to win it 25-16. The Lady Lynx werer not discouraged by the setback and returned to form to win set three 25-16 and set four 25-15.

Offensive stars for Lincoln in the win over Anderson included Kaylyn Hoffert (Lincoln) who led the way with 12 kills, Mattie Giese (Highland Park) who recorded 10 kills, and Mikayla Seibert (Mackinaw) who put away nine kills in all with four of them coming in the pivotal set three victory.

LC’s only loss of the weekend would come in their second match of the evening on Friday against Illinois College (DIII). IC took the early lead in set one and held a five-to-seven point advantage most of the way, but a furious comeback by the Lady Lynx late in the set would tie the score at 23-23. Lincoln ran out of subs during the set and had to switch to a one setter system which worked well enough to pull off a 28-26 come-from-behind win. In set two, the two teams battled their way to an 18-18 tie, but this time Illinois College was able to hold off Lincoln and take the set 25-23.

In set three, IC took advantage of several Lincoln miscues to go up 8-1 to start the set and then cruised to an easy 25-8 win. In set four, the Lady Lynx were able to keep things close, but they eventually fell 25-21 to end the match.
 

Against Illinois College, junior setter Emma Derry (Augustana) turned in a strong performance by leading her team in set assists with 27, picking up ten digs and collecting eight service points in the match. Defensive specialist Melanie Murray (Chicago) was also on her game, contributing ten digs and seven service points.

Coach Tippett was satisfied with his team’s play on day one of the event. “I thought we played very well in both matches today,” he said. “The Anderson win was a team effort, and we again showed that we can overcome having one bad set to still win a match.”

Tippett was also impressed with the way his team played against an opponent as strong as Illinois College. “They are a disciplined team with a powerful offense and we competed well with them which made for a very exciting match,” he said.

On Saturday, the Lady Lynx faced off against Knox College (DIII) and Monmouth College (DIII) in back-to-back matches and came away with a pair of three-set victories.

Lincoln controlled the pace of play against Knox from start to finish. LC servers were able to disrupt the Knox passing game throughout the match, and the Lincoln offense continued to click on the way to a 25-11, 25-21, 25-19 sweep.

LC outside hitters Kaylyn Hoffert and Mikayla Seibert combined for 22 kills in the match, while middle hitter Elysa Smith (Metamora) was good for five kills and two blocked shots. Sophomore libero Megan Gilliam commanded the defense by picking up 29 digs and consistently providing on-target passes in serve receive.

In their final match of the weekend against Monmouth College, the Lady Lynx cruised to decisive wins in sets one and two by scores of 25-19 and 25-16. Monmouth did not go down without a fight though, and led most of the way through set three. However, LC was able to erase a late five-point deficit to tie the score at 22-22 then pulled off a 25-23 win to end the match.

Lincoln Community High School grad Hannah Cameron was productive against Monmouth. The junior right side hitter collected nine kills and two blocks in the match. Fellow LCHS alum Morgan Lolling led in set assists with 21 and Kaylyn Hoffert again led in kills with a total of 15.

Junior outside hitter Kaylyn Hoffert’s strong play throughout the weekend earned her a spot on the Knox Invite All-Tournament Team.

LC will be off until Thursday evening when they will host Hannibal-LaGrange for a 7:00 PM match. This match is the beginning of a four-match home stand for the Lady Lynx. LC will be co-hosting a series of matches over the weekend with Lincoln Christian College. Lincoln College will play home matches at 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Friday and at 11:00 AM on Saturday as part of the inaugural LC-LCU Crosstown Classic.

[[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]