The Lindenwood men’s volleyball team picked up its first win of the season Tuesday night, sweeping Missouri Valley 30-20, 30-24, 30-16, at the Hyland Performance Arena.
Coming off back-to-back five set losses last week, the Lions took control early and put the Vikings away when they had the opportunity.
Tied at four early in the first set, the Lions surged ahead with three straight points and after each team sideout twice, Lindenwood used a quick 4-0 run to build a 13-6 lead. The margin would quickly balloon to ten and the Lions would win the set on the sixth Viking service error of the game.
Lindenwood built an 11-4 lead in game two and would stretch it to 25-15 before long. Missouri Valley would trim the deficit to five late, but the Lions would not falter and close out the set with three of the final five points.
With the third set tied at five early on, Lindenwood would score nine of the next 10 points to take a 14-6 advantage. Leading 20-12, the Lions would put the match away with five consecutive points.
Taylor Morrill had a team-high 15 kills and three others had seven apiece.
Mike Larson recorded 39 assists and added three aces.
Mike Emerick chipped in with 10 digs and
Matt Schmack and Morrill both had four blocks each.
The Lions (1-2, 1-1) will host the 11th Annual Lindenwood Invitational this weekend. Their first match is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. against Holy Names.