Game No. 1
Linden wood (0:0, 0:0 OVK)
against Central Michigan (0:0, 0:0 MAC)
Game information:
Date: Friday, August 30
Start time: 11:00 a.m. CT
Location: Normal, Illinois | CEFCU Arena
Live statistics: statistics
Game No. 2
Linden wood (0:0, 0:0 OVK)
against Bellarmine (0:0, 0:0 ASUN)
Game information:
Date: Friday, August 30
Start time: 3:30 p.m. CT
Location: Normal, Illinois | CEFCU Arena
Live statistics: statistics
Game No. 3
Linden wood (0:0, 0:0 OVK)
at Illinois State (0:0, 0:0 MVC)
Game information:
Date: Saturday, August 31
Start time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Normal, Illinois | CEFCU Arena
Live statistics: statistics
Regard: ESPN+
Comparison
Lindenwood’s women’s volleyball team opens the 2024 season with the first of four non-league tournaments at the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic, played on the campus of Illinois State. The Lions will face Central Michigan and Bellarmine on Friday before playing host school Illinois State on Saturday.
Head Coach Will Condon brings back an experienced group, as the Lions return 13 players from last year’s team that made the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals and posted a 16-15 record. Lindenwood has made the OVC semifinals the last two years under Condon.
Central Michigan finished last season with a record of 15-15 and a MAC record of 9-9. Bellarmine had a record of 9-20 and finished 7-9 in the ASUN. Host school Illinois State posted a record of 12-19 but finished 10-8 in the MVC. This is Lindenwood’s first meeting against all three schools in the Division I era (LU and Bellarmine are 1-1 overall in Division II).
OVC preseason rankings
The OVC released its 2024 women’s volleyball preseason poll last week, with Lindenwood ranked fifth. The Lions had the conference’s third-best record last season and secured a third-place finish in the OVC Tournament.
Southeast Missouri State was named the preseason favorite for 2024 with six first-place finishes and a total of 167 points. Last year’s OVC champion Eastern Illinois finished close behind with 166 points and five first-place finishes.
Morehead State (163 points/five first-place finishes), Tennessee Tech (152 points/four first-place finishes) and Lindenwood (145 points/one first-place finish) round out the top five in the OVC poll. The top five schools were separated by just 22 points.
Lindenwood also signed two players to the Preseason All-OVC team. Nicoletta Wilson And Jessie Seidel were selected after both earned Second Team All-OVC honors last season. Allie Otten was named the player to watch as she returns for her sixth season.
Returning Lions
Wilson was second on the team last season with 334 kills (a career high) and a .190% hit rate. In 2023, she started all 31 games and played a total of 126 sets. Wilson had 16 double-doubles last season, leading the team. She finished the season with 365 digs, only Seidel was a libero.
Seidel will enter her fifth season at Lindenwood in 2024. Seidel is the most digger in Lindenwood NCAA history with 1,709 and had the third-most digs in the conference last season with 595 and a 4.72 per set average. She was also effective behind the service line, hitting 51 aces, the third-most in the OVC.
Otten is entering her sixth collegiate volleyball season and her fifth at Lindenwood. Otten was the Lions’ primary setter last season, recording 842 assists for a 6.90 per set average. She also recorded 308 digs and 26 aces.
Rebecca Janke was a force in the middle for the Lions, leading the team with 107.0 blocks. Janke, who is entering her final season as a graduate student, had 27 solo blocks for Lindenwood, as well as 316 kills. She was one of three Lions to have over 300 kills in 2023.
Addy McAleer will also begin her final year at Lindenwood in 2024. McAleer, who transferred from SEMO last season, had 359 kills at LU in 2023, the highest kill count on her team. McAleer had 19 games with 10+ kills, including a season-high 23 against SIUE. She was also fourth on the team in digs with 228.
Newcomer in the spotlight
Freshmen right Autumn Bax comes to Lindenwood after a successful career at Blair Oaks High School in Jefferson City, Missouri. At Blair Oaks, she holds the record for most kills (1,519), blocks (279), and most kills in a season (526). Bax was selected as an All-State selection three times and has won three 3A Missouri State Championships.
Scouting out the enemy
Returning Central Michigan Leaders (2023)
Kills: Krystina Kasson – 218
Assists: Aly Gurtiza – 102
Aces: Maddy Gebhardt – 30
Excavations: Aly Gurtiza – 473
Blocked: Abby Olin – 53.0
Bellarmine – Returning Category Leaders (2023)
Killings: Kylie Van Hoy – 186
Templates: Kylie Van Hoy – 326
Aces: Tessa Nauert – 29
Excavations: Mara Perry – 173
Blocks: Maddie Hagan – 63.0
Illinois State – Returning Class Leaders (2023)
Kills: Aida Shadewald – 384
Assists: Kendall Burk – 6
Aces: Aida Shadewald – 38
Excavations: Aida Shadewald – 222
Blocks: Hannah Reichensperger – 84.0
Next:
The Lions will travel east to Boston, Massachusetts to compete in the Northeastern Tournament. Lindenwood will play three games against Northeastern, Dartmouth and Florida Gulf Coast. For more information, visit lindenwoodlions.com.
