The No. 5 Lindenwood men's volleyball team swept visiting Milwaukee School of Engineering Friday night 30-18, 30-25, 30-18. Since starting 0-2, the Lions are 4-2 over their last six matches.
Lindenwood built an early 11-5 lead in set one, but the Raiders remained close, converting four straight points to trim the lead to 15-11. Two quick points by
Rick Hess and
Raphael Mattos put Lindenwood back in control. Moments later,
Matt Schmack recorded a kill and a block to extend the lead to 22-14, and
Taylor Morrill had three consecutive kills to help Lindenwood pull away.
Trailing 6-5 in the early stages of game two, the Lions surged ahead with five straight points capped by a
Jack Mitchell kill. Once again, the Raiders used a quick spurt to pull close. Down 16-9, Milwaukee rattled off four straight points highlighted by an ace to move within three. Up 20-17, the Lions used a 4-0 run of their own to seize momentum. Schamck fueled the spark with two kills. Milwaukee would get no closer than four the rest of the way, and
Jon Wong ended the game with an ace.
Leading 10-7 in the third set, the Lions put together the match decisive run, scoring 13 of the next 15 points. Morrill led the charge with five kills and a block. Milwaukee's three straight points stopped the bleeding at 23-10. The Lions would eventually win the match on a
JM Plummer kill.
Morrill led the Lions with 15 kills and
Mike Warren finished with eight. Hess and Schmack both had seven apiece.
Mike Larson tallied 34 assists and two aces.
Carson Grissinger had two aces as well, and
Mike Emerick had a team-high 21 digs. Mitchell, Hess and Morrill all had three blocks each.
Lindenwood (4-4, 1-1) will host Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) tomorrow night at 7 p.m.