The Lindenwood women's volleyball team gave the No. 5 team in NCAA Division II a scare on Friday night at Hyland Arena, but Nebraska-Kearney escaped with a 25-19, 25-10, 24-26, and 29-27 victory.
 
Lindenwood dropped the first two sets and the Lopers appeared headed towards a sweep as they went up 19-14 in the third set. The Lady Lions fought back though, going on a 7-1 run to take the lead. The teams were tied four times down the stretch, the last time at 24-24. Nicole Hallam gave Lindenwood the lead after that, and an attack error by Nebraska-Kearney ended the set.
 
Lindenwood used the momentum from that win to jump out to a quick five-point lead in the fourth set, and it still led by five points at 22-17. Nebraska-Kearney fought back though with a 7-1 spurt that gave the Lopers match point. Lindenwood killed off numerous match points before an attack error by the Lady Lions finally ended the match.
 
Lindenwood had just one fewer blocks on the night and it blocked six more balls. The Lady Lions had seven more errors though, including 24 unblocked errors.
 
The trio of Nicole Hallam, Shannon Doyle, and Kristin Burnett combined for 39 kills of Lindenwood's 54 kills in the match. Sarah-Jane Pavlik finished with a team-high 41 assists. Anna Reichert had a team-high 10 digs, and four players, Sara Gregor, Doyle, Hallam, and Alex Dahlstrom, all had six block assists. Doyle and Hallam each finished with a team-high 17.0 points.
 
Lindenwood falls to 4-11 overall and 1-6 in MIAA play. The Lady Lions look to move up the conference standings on Saturday with a 3 p.m. match at home against Fort Hays State.