Lindenwood women’s volleyball posted a school record 11 conference wins this season. (Photo courtesy: Lindenwood Athletics)

OVC Tournament – Semifinals	1	2	3	4	5	Final
Lindenwood (16-15)	25	16	25	23	13	(2)
Southeast Missouri State (22-9)	16	25	21	25	15	(3)

Jason Barnes
Staff Writer

CHARLESTON, IL — The Lindenwood University women’s volleyball team saw its 2023 season end Tuesday night, when it lost to Southeast Missouri State in the semifinal round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, which was played at Eastern Illinois’ Lantz Arena.

The Lions, who came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed, won the first and third sets and were just one set win away from taking the whole match and moving on to the championship game. But the No. 2 seed Redhawks, who won the second set, rallied late, and won the fourth and fifth sets to take the match.

The final score was 25-16, 16-25, 25-21, 23-25, 13-15. Southeast Missouri will play top-seeded Eastern Illinois for the league championship on Wednesday.

Lindenwood, which struggled some during the early part of the season, but played well during the conference season, finished its year with a 16-15 record, after winning a school-record 11 games during the OVC season.

Four Lions notched eight kills or more in Tuesday’s semifinal, led by senior Rebecca Janke, who had 17 kills. She also had four assists, two aces, six digs, and four blocks. Teammate Nya Wilson notched her 16th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 20 digs, while Ashley Geluck added 11 kills and Addy McAleer had eight.

Lindenwood wasted no time on Tuesday winning the first set by a score of 25-16. The Lions jumped out to a 13-4 lead behind five service aces including two from Jessie Seidel and two from Lexi Menne. Lindenwood had six aces in the set. SEMO was held to a .125 hitting percentage while Lindenwood hit .346 wit h12 kills. Janke had three kills, three assists and an ace to lead LU.

The Redhawks took over control of the second set early tying the match at 1-1 with a 16-25 set score. Lindenwood’s offense hit only .021 with eight kills and seven attack errors. SEMO was led by OVC Freshman of the Year Lucy Ardnt with five kills in the second. Wilson was active defensively in the second posting seven digs.

The Lions jumped back in front in the third set with a 25-21 set win. There was seven ties and four lead changes in a back and forth set. Lindenwood trailed 7-10 before climbing their way back to take the lead 15-14 after a kill by Wilson. In the set, Wilson had six kills and five digs to lead LU. Lindenwood hit .425 in the set with 19 kills including seven more from Janke.

The fourth set saw an opportunity for the Lions to close out the match, but a failed review stalled the Lions offense resulting in a 23-25 set loss. McAleer and Geluck both had three kills in the fourth set to lead LU.

Lindenwood and SEMO had a battle for the ages in the fifth set, but the Lions fell 13-15 ending their tournament run. Allie Otten had 44 assists and three kills, while picking up a double-double with 13 digs. Seidel also had 22 digs to lead the Lions.

Lindenwood sports information contributed to this story.

2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals – Monday, November 20 – Charleston, Ill. (Lantz Arena)
Match 1 – No. 5 Southern Indiana 3 vs. No. 4 Morehead State 0
Match 2 – No. 1 Eastern Illinois 3 vs. No. 8 Arkansas-Little Rock 0
Match 3 – No. 2 SEMO 3 vs. No. 7 Western Illinois 0
Match 4 – No. 3 Lindenwood 3 vs. No. 6 Tennessee Tech 2

Semifinals – Wednesday, November 21 – Charleston, Ill. (Lantz Arena)
Semifinal #1 – No. 5 Southern Indiana 0 vs. No. 1 Eastern Illinois 3
Semifinal #2 – No. 3 Lindenwood 2 vs. No. 2 SEMO 3

Championship Game – Thursday, November 22 – Charleston, Ill. (Lantz Arena)
OVC Championship Game – No. 1 Eastern Illinois vs. No. 2 SEMO — 6 pm (ESPN+)