LU-Belleville remains unbeaten in volleyball
The Lindenwood University-Belleville women’s volleyball team stayed unbeaten on the 2016 season as they closed out Saturday with a four set (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21) win overBenedictine College.
The Lady Lynx (3-0), are off to its best start in program history through three games. The team was dominant against the Ravens (2-2) as they posted a hitting percentage of .222. Three players reached double-figures in kills but leading the way was Stephanie Cathcart as she recorded a career-high 21 kills and a hitting percentage of .425. Victoria Johnson added another double-double to her resume early on with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Lucia Rodriguez-Loras had a strong game of her own with 10 kills and a hitting percentage of .429.
The Lady Lynx will return to action on Wednesday night as they’ll have their home opener against Missouri Valley College. First-serve is set for 7:30 p.m.
Allie Holmes posted a career-high mark of 27 assists and teammate Kourtney Knox dished out 18. On the defensive side of the net, LU-Belleville collected a season-high 74 digs and they were led by freshman Emily Schaller as she tied her season-high of 25. Elle Gebke, meanwhile, finished with 18 digs.
Benedictine finished with a hitting percentage of .164 and Megan Ruzicka stood out for the Ravens with 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .313. Taylor Garner and Christel Haack had 18 assists each while Abby Brown was one of four players to reach double-figures in digs and she contributed a team-high 16.
In the first set, the Lady Lynx dominated as they took an 11-3 lead on Cathcart’s service ace. They maintained a 13-5 lead but the Ravens stormed back, going on a 9-1 run to tie it up at 14-all.
The Lady Lynx regained the lead after an attack error to make it 15-14 and gave themselves some breathing room at 20-16 on a kill by Johnson. LU-Belleville was up 22-20 but Benedictine erased that deficit with consecutive kills from Fleur Wesselink and Camila Araujo.
Lindenwood-Belleville, however, closed out the Ravens thanks to them committing two attack errors and a ball handling error which gave them the 25-22 set win.
It was more of the same story in the second as LU-Belleville again took an early lead at 10-6 on a kill from Rodriguez-Loras. The Lady Lynx held onto its marginal lead as the set wore on but the Ravens eventually caught up at 20-20 on a service ace by Sara Rahmanzai.
LU-Belleville rattled off a 4-0 run as Cathcart got things going with a kill to make it 21-20. Then, a Raven attack error, a block and another kill by Johnson gave them a 24-20 advantage.
The Ravens though stayed in it by going on a 3-0 run of its own to make it 24-23 but Johnson put them away in the second notching a kill to give Lindenwood-Belleville a 25-23 win. It was a strong second game by the Lady Lynx as they totaled 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .257.
In the third set, it was closer out of the gate but the Lady Lynx still were up 10-9 on a Ravens attack error. Tied up at 12-12, Benedictine found its offense as they went on an 8-4 run to take a 20-16 lead.
Finishing off the Lady Lynx in this tournament though has been tough for any team. Kendall Linder started it off with a kill and then a block by Cathcart made it 20-18. The senior hammered home a kill to put the scoreboard at 20-19 which forced Benedictine to take a timeout.
Out of the break, Cathcart couldn’t be slowed down with her tying the game at 20-all on a kill.
Benedictine, however, played spoiler as they went on to take a 23-20 lead and despite the Lady Lynx narrowing the advantage down to 24-23, it was off to a fourth set after Ruzicka gave the Ravens a 25-23 set win.
Both teams’ played by far its best set in the third with LU-Belleville totaling a match-high 16 kills while BC added 15.
In the fourth, Lindenwood-Belleville took a 12-9 lead on a kill from Cathcart. They would battle with Benedictine up to a 17-17 tie but gained the separation they needed with a 5-0 run, capped off by Johnson’s kill to give them a 22-17 lead.
The Ravens tried to stay in alive as they made it a 24-21 game but an attack error by BC gave the Lady Lynx a 25-21 set and match win.
Fans can stay updated on lindenwoodlynx.com on Tuesday afternoon for a preview of its game against the Vikings.
You can stay up to date on all of the school’s social media accounts Twitter (@LindenwoodLynx), Facebook (LindenwoodLynx) and Instagram (@lublynx).
News-Democrat
This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 7:57 PM with the headline "LU-Belleville remains unbeaten in volleyball."