Photo courtesy of Thomas Smith.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Smith.

Lincoln Christian Overcomes Eureka Tuesday

LINCOLN, Ill. – Lincoln Christian climbed out of an early hole to rally for a 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-21 non-conference victory over the Eureka College volleyball team in Lincoln, Ill.

Kary Langan (Lakewood, Ill./Shelbyville H.S.) and Lexi Dooley (Sutter, Ill./Warsaw H.S.) shared the team lead with 10 kills apiece. Heather Robinson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) picked up a team-best 16 of EC's 34 assists.

The Red Devils used a furious comeback in game one to put the Red Lions on their heels early. Eureka trailed 16-10 but eventually scored 15 of the set's final 20 points to win 25-21. The visitors pulled even at 18-18 on an LCU attack error and took the lead for good, 20-19, on another miscue from the Red Lions. Dooley scored the final three points of the set on a kill and back-to-back service aces.

Service from Sam Hazzard and a series of EC attack errors allowed LCU to turn an early deficit in game two into an 8-5 advantage. The hosts' final 11-point margin (25-14) marched their biggest lead of the set.

LCU never trailed in set three. Despite trailing by as many as nine (19-10), the Red Devils whittled their deficit to three as early as 21-18 and as late as 23-20 before consecutive kills by Lillian Messmore allowed Lincoln Christian to grab a 2-1 lead in the match.

Eureka held control for much of the fourth game and had a 15-12 cushion midway through the action. LCU chipped away at the margin on service from Maliah Feller-Blakemore and secured the final lead change of the night on her kill for a 17-16 edge. Lucy Waid's kill secured LCU's victory thanks to a 25-21 triumph in the set.

Eureka will have less than 24 hours to prepare for Wednesday's match at Benedictine, the Red Devils' final match of a stretch of eight consecutive contests away from home.