Region 24A Final Four Tournament

LC vs. Danville Area Community College

Lincoln College hosted Danville Area Community College in round one of the NJCAA Region 24A playoffs and won the match in three games. The scores were 30-21, 32-30, 30-20. LC moves on to play in the Region 24A final four tournament in Danville this weekend. The Lady Lynx are now 34-14-1 in the year.

LC Stats:

Michelle Matusiak 11 kills, 6 points, 13 digs
Nina Baxter 8 kills, 6 points, 11 digs
Kristen Mahoney 7 kills, 15 points, 3 blocks
Heather Talkington 7 kill
Cortni Ramm 22 set assists, 14 points
Megan Granko 12 digs
Rhiannon Spekhart 4 digs

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

This match looked more like matches we played earlier in the year when we were beating teams in three games regularly. We passed consistently enough to run a balanced offense and had an intensity on defense that I haven't seen for a while. Advancing to the Regional finals is a great accomplishment for our team. If we bring the same energy to the court this weekend, I like our chances to compete for the Region championship.

LC begins play in the double elimination, Region 24A final 4 tournament on Friday with a 1 pm match aganst #1 seed Illinois Central College. The tournament will be held at Danville Area Community College.

LC vs. LLCC

Lincoln College finished their regular season schedule with a four game loss at Lincoln Land Community College.  LC dropped the first game 22-30.  The Lady Lynx regrouped and won the second game in thrilling fashion by the score of 35-33.  LC carried their momentum into game three, but stalled around the half way point and lost 24-30. LLCC took the fourth game 23-30.  LC finished the regular season with a record of 33-14-1. 

LC Stats:
Michelle Matusiak  17 kills, 5 points, 19 digs
Kristen Mahoney  12 kills,  3 points,  5 blocks
Nina Baxter 8 kills, 6 points, 10 digs
Jenna Luck 8 kills, 5 blocks
Niena Posey 5 kills, 2 blocks
Cortni Ramm 25 set assists, 9 points
Stephanie Dziengel 13 set assists, 5 points

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

It is disappointing to end our regular season with a loss, but we played very competitive volleyball against a quality opponent.  (LLCC is seeded second in their regional.) We have not faired well against them at all over the past two seasons, so to take a game from them and be close in each of the games we lost shows some degree of improvement.  Hopefully, playing the caliber of teams we have faced this week will sharpen us up for the post season.

LC begins regional play on Tuesday evening.  The Lady Lynx, seeded 4th, earned a first round home game vs #5 seed Danville Area CC.  The game will be played at 6 pm at Lincoln Community High School.

LC vs. Carl Sandburg College

The 2007 Lincoln College volleyball team added to its school record win total last night with a four game victory over Carl Sandburg College. The scores were 29-31, 30-23, 30-27, 30-24. LC is now 33-13-1 with one game remaining in the regular season.

LC Stats:
Nina Baxter 19 kills, 4 points, 11 digs
Michelle Matusiak 9 kills, 20 points, 17 digs
Kristen Mahoney 7 kills, 11 points, 3 blocks
Jenna Luck 6 kill, 2 blocks
Cortni Ramm 16 set assists, 8 points
Stephanie Dziengel 14 set assists
Priscilla Craig 5 kills

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

We came out in game one with a similar approach to the one we took on Tuesday night's loss at home and got a similar result. Sandburg was ready to play and we struggled to keep any momentum going. After receiveing an attitude adjustment before game 2 the team started working better together as a unit. We moved better on defense and showed more positive energy on the court. The results showed in the score as we did not trail the rest of the evening.

LC is in action again this evening with a 6 pm match at Lincoln Land Community College. Proceeds from the game will go to support Breast Cancer research and both teams will wear pink uniforms in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

The problem for us tonight was easy to spot: passing serves. We had one of the worst passing night of the season and it is impossible to get into any sort of rhythm offensively when you are scrammbling just to get the ball over the net. We gave up way too many aces and sent way too many free balls to be competitive. For some reason in game three we started passing better and the result was an entertaining game that we won, but our passing ability disappeared in game four and we lost an ugly one. I credit Millikin's servers for keeping the pressure on us by serving at players who were not on their game. They were in control of the flow of the game most of the night and deserved the victory.

LC hits the road for the rest of the week. They play at Carl Sandbug College on Thursday and at Lincoln Land on Friday.

LC vs. John Wood CC

The Lincoln College Volleyball team returned to form on Thursday evening with a three game victory over conference rival John Wood College. The Lady Lynx won by scores of 30-16, 30-27, and 30-22. LC picked up its 30th victory of the season against just 12 losses.

LC Stats:

Stephanie Dziengel 8 set assists, 10 points
Cortni Ramm 11 set assists, 6 points
Michelle Matusiak 8 kills, 17 digs, 7 points
Nina Baxter 7 kills, 4 digs, 4 blocks
Megan Granko 17 digs, 3 points
Kristen Mahoney 10 points, 5 aces, 5 kills
Heather Talkington 6 kills, 3 blocks

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

This was a very important match for our team in terms of seeding our regional. The victory should secure us a home playoff game in the first round, most likely against John Wood. Revenge also helped motivate the team tonight because we all remeber the close loss we took to them in the championship match of the Danville tournament over a month ago. Our passing game was on which allowed us to control the tempo of the game and beat them on the volley most of the night. The win was another true team effort and a great way to begin the final stretch of home games four us this season.

LC will host a tri-match beginning at 10 am on Saturday and will honor their sophomore class at their final home game of the regular season next Tuesday evening.

LC vs. SCI

Lincoln College traveled to Springfield for a match with SCI and lost in four games. SCI managed to win a close first game 30-28 then took game two by a score of 30-25. The Lady Lynx battled back to win game three 30-23 but could not keep the momentum going in game four and lost 30-18. LC is now 29-12-1 on the year.

LC Stats:

Cortni Ramm 17 set assists, 5 points
Michelle Matusiak 12 kills, 22 digs, 5 points
Nina Baxter 13 kills, 10 digs
Niena Posey 7 kills, 5 blocks, 6 points
Stephanie Dziengel 17 set assists, 9 points
Heather Talkington 5 kills, 5 blocks

LC Coach Mark Tippett:
I can't fault our effort tonight because we played hard all night long. SCI was little bit sharper on defense and they served more aggressively than we did. I was encouraged by the fact that we did not give up on the match after dropping the first two games. We started blocking well in game three and showed that we could control the flow of the game. We just got off to a bad start in game four and were never able to recover. I believe we will be able to build upon the positive aspects of tonight's loss and will play well in tomorrow's important conference game.

The Lady Lynx host John Wood College at 6 pm Thursday evening.

Florissant Valley Invitational

Lincoln College went 1-3 at the Florissant Valley Invitational on Saturday. Two of the three losses came in deciding games to 15. The first of these came to Springfield College 30-27, 21-30, 15-17. LC bounced back to win their next match against Florissant Valley 30-19, 30-24 then lost to Shawnee College 30-16, 22-30, 12-15. Their day ended with a loss to Lincoln Land CC 25-30, 23-30. LC's record on the season is now 29-11-1.

LC Stats:

Cortni Ramm 39 set assists, 14 points
Michelle Matusiak 27 kills, 43 digs, 25 points
Nina Baxter 33 kills, 11 points
Kristen Mahoney 25 kills, 21 points
Niena Posey 13 kills, 11 points
Stephanie Dziengel 39 set assists, 14 points
Heather Talkington 11 kills, 8 blocks

LC Coach Mark Tippett:
This tournament turned out to be our first truly frustrating outing of the season. In two-out-of-three format matches there is little room for error. We found out the hard way that losing focus for any period of time can cause you to drop a game, and, once you get into a deciding game to 15, anything can happen. We still had opportunities to win those matches and were only 5 points away from going 3-1 on the day instead of 1-3. Hopefully, we will treat this as a learning experience that will make us a stronger team as we head into the final weeks of the season.

LC plays at Springfield College on Wednesday and will host John Wood CC on Thursday evening at 6 pm.

MidWest Athletic Conference

Lincoln College traveled to Lewis & Clark CC for a MidWest Athletic Conference match and came away with a four game victory. The scores were 30-26, 30-21, 30-32, 30-24. The Lady Lynx are now 4-2 in MWAC play and 28-8-1 overall.

LC Stats:

Cortni Ramm 20 set assists 5 points
Michelle Matusiak 17 kills, 23 digs, 18 points
Nina Baxter 13 kills, 3 points
Kristen Mahoney 11 kills, 5 points
Stephanie Dziengel 19 set assists 4 points
Heather Talkington 6 kills
Megan Granko 23 digs, 5 points

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

Lewis & Clark played well on defense and made us earn every point. Our hitters were up to the challenge though and we managed to win the long volleys when we needed to. I continue to be pleased by our ability to make adjustments during the match in order to find ways to win.

LC will participate in the 5 team Florissant Valley College invitational tournament on Saturday.

LC vs. Illinois College

Lincoln College's volleyball season resumed on Thursday evening after an 8 day lay off for Fall Break. The Lady Lynx got back to their winning ways with a 30-14, 30-13, 30-25 victory at home over the Illinois College JV team.
LC's record improved to 27-8-1 on the season.

LC Stats:

Cortni Ramm 7 set assists 12 points, 7 aces
Heather Talkington 5 kills, 2 points
Michelle Matusiak 5 kills, 2 digs, 4 points
Niena Posey 4 kills, 5 points, 3 blocks
Kristen Mahoney 4 kills, 10 points, 4 aces
ReJeana Beer 5 set assists 7 points
Priscilla Craig 3 kills, 2 points
Amber Lutz 5 digs

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

It was great to see our players come out fired up and aggressive after not playing for a few days. We worked on jump serving in practice this week and I was very pleased with the results. We picked up more points on aces in this match than we have in any match this season. Our passing was steady and the setters did a nice job of spreading the ball around to keep our attack balanced. Everyone contributed to this victory which is the perfact way to get the second half of our season started.

Lincoln travels to Lewis & Clark College on Friday for a conference match then moves on to St. Louis for the Florissant Valley College invitational tournament on Saturday.

LC vs. Parkland

Lincoln College lost a Mid-West Athletic Conference match at #9 ranked Parkland College on Tuesday night. The scores were 21-30, 21-30, 17-30. The Lady Lynx head into their Fall Break with a record of 26-8-1 and are 3-2 in MWAC play.

Kristen Mahoney 6 kills, 5 points, 2 blocks
Cortni Ramm 6 set assists
Megan Granko 10 digs
Heather Talkington 3 kills, 10 blocks

LC Coach Mark Tippett:

We were able to hang in until the mid point of each game, but we seemed to stall once the scores got into the mid teens. It was at this point that Parkland was always able to come up with a string of five or six points in a row and we were never able to recover. We had several long rallies and our front row players blocked well enough to keep us in the game. Our passing game was spotty though and many of their points came as a result of a poor first pass on our part. Fatigue may have been a factor because we have played a lot lately which makes Fall Break all the more welcome. Despite this loss I am very please with where we are at and I am looking forward to continuing to see our team improve in the second half of the season.

The Lady Lynx are off until next Thursday when they host the Illinois College JV team for a 6:00 pm match.

LC vs. Danville

Nina Baxter  10 kills, 7 points, 3 blocks 
Kristen Mahoney 10 kills, 3 points, 2 blocks
Michelle Matusiak  7 kills, 9 digs, 18 points
Megan Granko 7 points, 20 digs
Heather Talkington 4 kills, 4 blocks
Niena Posey 4 kills, 5 points, 2 blocks
Cortni Ramm 16 set assists 7 points
Stephanie Dziengel 7 set assists 14 points 

LC Coach Mark Tippett:
In game one we let a 10 point lead slip away late in the game which made things very tense at the end.  Fortunately we pulled out the win, but they carried the momentum into the second game and beat us.  Our blockers were not stopping the quick attacks and shoot sets very well so we made a defensive adjustment and flipped our lineup in game three in order to create different matchups.  The strategy worked because we easily controlled games three and four to win the match.  We have one more match to play before we are off for Fall Break, and after playing 9 matches in 7 days, the rest will be well deserved. 

LC Travels to Champaign this evening to take on #9 ranked Parkland College.

College of DuPage Tournament

LC vs. Lincoln Land CC

Lincoln lost its first home match of the season to Lincoln Land CC. The scores were 30-23, 30-20, 30-15.

Stats for Lincoln:

Kristen Mahoney 7 kills 5 points 2 blocks
Michelle Matusiak 7 kills, 5 points 1 ace
Nina Baxter 7 kills 2 points 2 blocks
Niena Posey 5 kills 1 point 2 digs
Cortni Ramm 9 set assists

Lincoln Land blocked us very effectively early in the match and that seemed to take us out of our game. We struggled at times to pass the ball and when we did get a decent pass our hitters were often hitting into double blocks. We fought hard in the first two games, but we got frustrated and things got away from us early in game 3. Hopefully we will learn from this defeat and do a better job the next time we face them.

Lincoln College is now 19-7-1. They will play in the College of DuPage Tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Illinois Valley Community College Invitational Tournament

The Lincoln College volleyball team took second place at the Illinois Valley Community College Invitational tournament on Saturday.  During pool play the Lady Lynx went 2-2 earning a third place seed.  They defeated the #2 seed Elgin college to advance to the championship match versus John A. Logan College.  Lincoln is now 19-6-1 on the season.

Scores:

Stats for LC on the day: Kristen Mahoney 21 kills, 11 points, 11 blocks
Michelle Matusiak 20 kills, 45 digs, 23 points
Niena Posey 18 kills, 20 points, 9 blocks
Megan Granko 8 points, 39 digs
Nina Baxter 29 kills, 19 points 10 digs
Heather Talkington 19 kills, 5 blocks
Cortni Ramm 42 set assists 15 points 4 aces
Stephanie Dziengel 22 set assists 13 points
Priscilla Craig 5 kills, 4 blocks
Jenna Luck 7 kills, 4 points

Our team played very well against some tough competition at this tournament.  Against Harper and IVCC we were able to control the tempo of the game by passing well and hitting aggessively.  Elgin is a team we lost to earlier in the season and they got us again during pool play by out hustling us on defense.  We were able to avenge that loss in the semi final match which was a big confidence boost for our players.  We jumped out to early leads and capitolized on their serving errors to win convincingly.  We played hard against Logan, but they outsized us across the net and served us tough.  I was proud of the way we kept fighting against them and were able to hang in for most of the championship match.

*Note - the Lady Lynx have now exceeded their win total of 17 from last season.

LC vs. Webster

Stats for LC:

Michelle Matusiak 12 kills, 8 digs, 9 points

Jenna Luck 8 kills, 4 digs

Niena Posey 6 kills, 6 points, 3 blocks

Megan Ganko 12 digs, 5 points

Heather Talkington 16 kills, 9 blocks

Priscilla Craig 5 kills, 2 blocks

Cortni Ramm 18 set assists 8 points

Stephanie Dziengel 10 set assists 8 points

We had an interesting start to the evening when middle hitter Kristen Mahoney became nausious just before the start of the match.  Our backup middle is Nina Baxter, but Nina was already in the game as an outside hitter, so I had to throw Jenna Luck into the game to play middle.  Despite the fact that Jenna has not played or practiced at middle for us, she stepped in and did an excellent job.  We were able to overcome an early four point deficit to take charge of game one.  Our momentum caried over to game two where were able to keep a three to four point advantage on them most of the way.  Game three was a real battle.  Mahoney returned to play very well and we were in command for most of the game, but Webster kept fighting and managed to tie the game at 28.  We fought off a couple of game point opportunities before winning the match 33-31.  Every player on our team saw action in this match and everyone was able to contribite something positive.  Hopefully that trend will carry over into the tournament this weekend.

The Lady Lynx will participate in the Illinois Valley Community College Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

Women's Volleyball Home Tri-Match
Lincoln College hosted a triangular with Florissant Valley CC and Black Hawk East CC on Saturday.  LC won both of its matches.   LC defeated Florissant Valley 27-30, 30-21, 30-17, 30-16 then defeated BHE 30-23, 30-23, 30-16.  Also, Black Hawk East defeated FV 30-26, 25-30, 30-12, 30-32, 15-13.

Stats for LC on the day:

Michelle Matusiak 23 kills, 22 digs, 13 points

Niena Posey 9 kills, 15 points, 6 blocks

Megan Ganko 17 digs, 8 points

Nina Baxter 22 kills, 18 points 12 digs

Kristen Mahoney 11 kills, 5 blocks

Heather Talkington 16 kills, 9 blocks

Jenna Luck 5 kills, 4 points

Cortni Ramm 18 set assists 13 points

Stephanie Dziengel 17 set assists 8 points

We started out a little sluggish against Flo. Valley, but picked up the intensity and cut down on the mental mistakes in game two.  We were able to control the flow of the match from that point on.  Our passing game returned and our serving was very consistent.  Against Black Hawk East we let early leads get away a couple of times in the first two games, but were able to side out when we had to and win the match in three games.  Overall, it was a great day for our team because we were able to get everyone involved in the fun.

LC is off until Thursday night when they host Webster University’s JV team for a 6 pm match.

LC vs. Illinois Central College

Kristen Mahoney 8 kills, 4 points

Niena Posey 2 kills, 7 points

Nina Baxter 3 kills, 6 digs

Stephanie Dziengel 7 set assists 2 points

The final scores may not show it, but we were in all three games up to a point. We played right with a very strong team for the first 20 points or so of each game, but we failed to take adventage of a few key opportunities which cost us. ICC had some tough servers who disrupted our passing game. It seemed like each time we would begin to gain some momentum one of their servers would go on a run of four or five points and we would be back in the hole. Hopefully, we will learn from this experience and improve as a team.

LC is now 13-3-1 and will host a home tri match on Saturday starting at 10 am.

LC vs. Springfield College

Michelle Matusiak 13 kills, 13 digs, 7 points

Kristien Mahoney 12 kills, 4 blocks, 1 set assist
Rhiannon Speckhart 9 points, 13 digs

Nina Baxter 9 kills, 10 points 5 points, 3 aces

Heather Talkington 5 kills, 7 blocks

Cortni Ramm 19 set assists, 5 points

Jenna Luck 6 digs, 2 points

Tonight our passers really came through with accurate passes that gave our setters a chance to run the offense. The middles did a great job of running quick sets which opened up things for our outside and right side attackers. These factors allowed us to sideout effectively and stop SCI from getting any momentum going. Throughout games one and two we were able to hold on to slim leads then pull away at the end, but in game three we got down early (8-1) then worked ourselves back to tie the game at 18. From that point on it was a real battle. I was proud of the way the team pushed through to get the victory in three games.

Defeating SCI was a big confidence boost for our sophomores because we lost to them 3 times last year. The win also puts us at 2-0 in the conference and, since SCI is also in our regional, it should give us an advantage when it comes time to seed the region tournament.

The Lady Lynx are now 13-2-1 on the season. The next game will be on Thursday night at Illinois Central College. The next home matches are scheduled for this Saturday when LC hosts a triangular featuring Florissant Valley CC and Black Hawk East.

Danville Tournament

Tournament Totals

Michelle Matusiak 24 kills, 48 points

Niena Posey 16 kills, 11 blocks

Rhiannon Speckhart 19 points, 32 digs

Nina Baxter 19 kills, 24 points 

Heather Talkington 22 kills, 14 blocks

Priscilla Craig 10 kills, 10 blocks

Cortni Ramm 47 set assists 18 points 

ReJeana Beer 19 set assists, 30 points

We played very well at times during pool play, but  we often struggled with attacking the ball on serve receive.  We were sending way too many free balls to the other team then relying on our ability to win the volley.  Fortunately we were able to do just that most of the day, however this trend hurt us in the championship match.  We did not pass well in game one which put a lot of pressure on us in game two.  I was pleased with the way we responded and forced a deciding game.  Game three was a real nail biter and I give John Wood credit for denying us three shots at championship point to win by two.  The loss was frustrating, but hopefully we will learn from our mistakes and it will make us a stronger team in the long run.

LC is now 12-2-1.   Our next game is a home match vs. conference foe Springfield College on Tuesday night at 6 pm.

LC vs. Shawnee CC

Michelle Matusiak 14 kills, 10 digs, 8 points

Nina Baxter 9 kills, 4 blocks, 9 digs

Niena Posey 9 kills, 4 blocks

Rhiannon Speckhart 15 points, 9 digs
Kristen Mahoney 3 kills, 3 blocks

Cortni Ramm 15 set assists, 7 points

Stephanie Dziengel 11 set assists 7 points

One of the biggest hurdles when going to play Shawnee is dealing with the four hour bus ride to get there. Our team handled this very well and from the start we were able to control the tempo of the match. Our serving was consistent again and our passing was sharp enough to allow us to side out effectively. Our outside hitters were swinging very well and they had a hard time stopping us whenever we had control of our first pass. Picking up a win on the road was a great way to start our conference season.

The Lady Lynx are now 8-1-1 and will play in the Danville Area College Invitational tournament on Saturday.

LC vs. Millikin University JV

Michelle Matusiak 9 kills, 5 blocks

Niena Posey 14 kills, 10 points, 3 blocks

Rhiannon Speckhart 13 points, 15 digs

Kristen Mahoney 6 kills, 6 blocks

Heather Talkington 6 kills, 4 blocks

Cortni Ramm 21 set assists 9 points

Stephanie Dziengel 10 set assists 9 points

This victory followed what is becoming a familiar pattern of starting out strong then struggling a bit in the middle of the match before regrouping to earn the win. Millikin had some aggressive servers that gave our passers trouble, but their serves were inconsistent. On defense we blocked well and our setters spread the ball around effectively to give us a balanced attack.

LC travels to Shawnee for a conference match on Thursday. The Lady Lynx are now 7-1-1.

Women's Volleyball Home Tri-Match

Stats for LC on the day:
 
Michelle Matusiak 23 kills, 24 digs, 24 points
Niena Posey 14 kills, 7 points, 7 blocks
Rhiannon Speckhart 18 points, 58 digs
Nina Baxter 9 kills, 19 points 10 digs
Heather Talkington 10 kills, 1 point
Cortni Ramm 31 set assists 15 points 4 aces
Stephanie Dziengel 17 set assists 5 points
 
The East Central match was a battle from beginning to end.  EC has a very athletic team that runs a quick offense and blocks well at the net.  They presented a great challenge for our team, and our sophomores showed effective leadership skills to meet it.  It was encouraging to see that our players didn't get rattled after losing the second and third games.  I think that last year in that situation we may have dropped that match in four games, but we remained calm and found a way to win.  Several times we came up with clutch defensive plays and aggressive attacks to get back in control of the match.  It was a great win for our team. 
The EC match lasted almost two and a half hours, so I think we were a little tired when we faced Rend Lake.  We passed poorly in the beginning of the match and did not adjust well to RL's slower pace of play.  Many of our first year players got on the court in this match and they got the job done.  Overall it was a positive day for our team and it wrapped up a very productive first week of the season.  
LC is now 6-1-1.  We visit Millikin to play their JV team on Tuesday and travel to Shawnee on Thursday for our first conference match of the season.

LC vs. Carl Sandburg

We defeated Carl Sandburg College in three games. 30-14, 30-26, 30-22. We are now 3-1-1.

Nina Baxter 10 kills, 6 points, 1 block
ReJeana Beer 9 set assists 2 points
Kristen Mahoney 7 kills, 4 points, 3 blocks
Rhiannon Speckhart 10 points, 14 digs

Tonight's win was a real team effort. Everyone was able to contribute something positive and I was very pleased with the way the first year players preformed. Sandburg has a young team, but they played us tough in the second and third games. Our team showed a lot of poise and the ability to come from behind which is great to see this early in the season.

We play at home Wednesday evening against Olive-Harvey CC at 6:00 p.m.