Lincoln College Men's Volleyball:  Lynx Sweep Home Invite

[February 20, 2019] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball team went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend at their first home invitational event of the season. Culver-Stockton College, Lawrence Tech (MI) and Judson University were the other schools participating in the round-robin format event.

LC began the weekend with a four-set victory over Culver-Stockton. CSC took advantage of several Lincoln hitting errors to squeak out a 25-23 win in set one, but the Lynx responded with a cleaner effort in set two to win it 25-20. With the momentum back on their side, Lincoln was able to control the tempo of play for most of the rest of the to win set three 28-18 and take set four 25-21.

On Saturday morning, Lincoln faced off against Lawrence Technological University. The Lynx looked to avenge a three-set loss they suffered to LT just two weeks earlier at the Judson Invite. Lincoln took command right away in the match, winning the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-21. In set three, Lawrence was able to slow down Lincoln’s offense enough to earn a close 26-24 win to extend the match. However, LC responded with a strong effort from start to finish in set four to win it 25-21 and end the match.

The last match of the event for LC was against Judson University, a team Lincoln defeated in a five-set thriller earlier in the year. The Lynx looked sharp in the first two sets by playing tough on defense and limiting their hitting errors which resulted in wins by scores of 25-22 and 25-20. In set three, the tables began to turn though as Lincoln had trouble in the early going and fell behind 5-1. LC would trail the rest of the way in the set and suffer a 25-15 loss to extend the match. In set four, Lincoln was able to regain their composure and the two teams battled back and forth, but, in the end, Judson was able to pull off a narrow 25-23 win to force a deciding set to 15. In that set, Lincoln came out strong and earned themselves an 8-3 advantage. From there the Lynx were able to side out effectively and eventually took the set 15-7 to win the match and improve their overall record to 7-3.

LC's Charles Carter swinging for a kill against Lawrence Tech.

Offensive stars for LC on the weekend included junior Charles Carter (Blue Island) who led the team with 40 kills, sophomore Ramon Matos (Chicago) who amassed 38 kills, and senior Greg Scott (North Chicago) was good for 36 kills in three matches.

Setters Bryan Orellana (Chicago) and Nick Washington (St. Louis) were busy all weekend finding open hitters and playing with purpose on defense. Washington recorded 78 set assists and 18 digs while Orellana had 72 assists and 19 digs.

Defensively, Lincoln received outstanding play from sophomore libero Trenton Keilion (Princeville) who had a team-high 50 digs over the course of the weekend.

Senior Corey Poindexter (Overland, MO) had 30 digs and 16 kills in his first action of the season since being cleared from a knee injury.

Lincoln Coach Mark Tippett enjoyed watching his team perform well at home. “We played a very consistent game for most of the weekend,” said Tippett. “Our offense was sharp and defensively we played with intensity. It was fun to see our team find success at home and especially nice to earn a win over a team we lost to just a few weeks ago (Lawrence Tech), which shows we are progressing as the season goes on.”

LC will be back in action on Tuesday evening at Lindenwood-Belleville and will play next at home on Thursday evening at 6:30 PM against Robert Morris University.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]