Men's Volleyball: Lynx Fall in Home Finale to #1 Missouri Baptist

[March 30, 2019] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Volleyball team put forth a strong effort on Thursday evening, but was unable to put a blemish on the #1 ranked and undefeated Missouri Baptist University Spartan’s season. MBU earned their 26th win in a match that lasted three sets.

The Spartans were in control throughout most of the first two sets to win them 25-14 and 25-15, but the Lynx did not give up easily in set three, and forced the Spartans to go into extra points to end the match.

Lincoln got off to a 4-1 advantage in the last set and was able to maintain a lead up until a four-point run by MBU put them ahead 7-6. From there the two teams traded side outs and one point leads up to a 9-9 tie. At that point the Spartans opened up a three-point lead and were able to maintain it up to a score of 23-20. Lincoln setter Nick Washington (St. Louis, MO) then served two points in a row to cut the lead to one before a service error gave Missouri Baptist their first match-point opportunity. A Spartan hitting error gave the Lynx another chance which sophomore left side hitter Ramon Matos (Chicago) made the most of by serving an ace to tie the score at 24-24. After a MO Bap timeout, Matos got his next serve in, but LC lost the volley and was unable to side out on the next play which forced them to settle for a close 26-24 loss.

Lincoln Coach Mark Tippett was impressed with the way his players stood up to one of the top teams in the nation. “We brought a lot of intensity to the floor tonight and made them work for most of their points, especially in the third set,” said Tippett. “Their hitters were difficult to read and they made some impressive plays on defense that showed why they have not lost this season, but our guys put up a good fight and should be proud of the way they played,” he added.

Prior to the match, Lincoln recognized six seniors for whom this was the last home match of their careers. The honored players included Brandon Savage (Rochester), Corey Poindexter (Overland, MO), Bryan Orellana (Chicago) and North Chicago grads Michael Wesley, Greg Scott and Deantrius Coleman.

Coach Tippett had all positive things to say about the graduating class. “These guys have been the foundation of our program seeing as they have been here for four out of the five years we have had men’s volleyball at LC,” said Tippett. “They have been outstanding representatives for the Lincoln College, and I am sure they will all do great things in the future.”

Lincoln (14-8) will finish their season with a pair of road matches at Culver-Stockton College on Saturday. LC will take on CSC at noon followed by a match against Missouri Valley College at 3:00 PM.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]