The No. 5 Lindenwood men's volleyball team fell to No. 4 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) Saturady night, 30-26, 32-30, 27-30, 30-21 at the Hyland Performance Arena.
One night after Lindenwood controlled the tempo against Milwaukee School of Engineering, it was the Stritch Wolves who bottled up the Lions in front of a spirited home crowd. Cardinal Stritch raced out to a 14-9 lead in the first set, but the Lions would quickly mount a charge, eventually taking a brief 21-20 lead. The Wolves converted three straight points to regain momentum, and after Lindenwood cut the lead to one, Stritch rattled off three straight again to pull away.
The two squads exchanged points in the early stages of the second set, with neither team building a lead bigger than two. Tied at 20 again,
Mike Warren recorded a block and kill to put the Lions ahead. After calling timeout, Cardinal Stritch used a 4-0 run to take control. Facing set point and down by three, Lindenwood rallied on a pair of
Tim Huizinga kills to even the score at 29. Each team would sideout and the Wolves took game two, scoring the final two points of the game.
Lindenwood built early momentum in the third game, and then surged ahead with an 11-4 run. Stritch would mount a late rally, but the Lions would hold on to force a fourth set.
Game four was close throughout the opening moments, but Cardinal Stritch methodically pulled away. Leading 17-13, the Wolves stretched it to 20-15 before long. Five straight points by the visiting team ended the Lions' chances of making a late comeback.
Taylor Morrill paced the Lions with a team-high 18 kills and Warren added eight. Huizinga and
Rick Hess both had nine kills apiece.
Mike Larson tallied 44 assists and
Mike Emerick logged 20 digs.
Matt Schmack had a season-high nine blocks and Warren had seven.
Lindenwood (4-5, 1-1) will host Hannibal-LaGrange this upcoming Tuesday at 7 p.m.