The Lindenwood men's volleyball team began its season in Riverside, Calif. on Friday with a doubleheader against host California Baptist and Concordia. The Lions dropped both matches, falling 3-2 in the matinee before losing the night cap in another five-set thriller.
 
Match One
 
Lindenwood and California Baptist traded sets until the Lancers edged the Lions in the fifth, 15-13.
 
The Lions and Lancers stayed within one point of each other until California Baptist stretched its lead to 12-10. The Lions evened the set at 14 apiece with a 4-1 run, capped by Ryan Moore's second kill. The host Lancers won 11 of the next 15 points to end the set, 25-19.
 
California Baptist wasted no time gaining the early advantage in the second set, jumping out to a 5-2 and 10-5 lead. The Lions clawed back and cut the lead to 15-11 that included a service ace and kill by Duckworth. Lindenwood went on a 5-0 run, led by a Sam Schindler kill and Adam Brewster service ace. The Lancers tied the set at 19 apiece, but Lindenwood scored six of the last nine points to win, 25-22.
 
The third set began as the second, but this time the Lancers would hold onto the lead through its entirety. Duckworth and Schindler each had a kill early on, but the Lancers would win easily, 25-15.
 
Kills by Schindler began the fourth set before Lindenwood took a 7-4 lead. The Lions used attacking errors by the Lancers to stretch the lead to 13-8. The score remained stagnant until a pair of kills by Schindler solidified the 25-19 victory.
 
The fifth set started like the first as the team exchanged points until the Lancers took a 10-8 lead. Lindenwood used another kill by Moore to inch back to 12-10, but California Baptist would hold on to win, 15-13, in the deciding set.
 
Duckworth led the team on the attack, hitting .300 with 18 kills and 17.5 points. Moore and Schindler also tallied double-digit kill totals, while Brewster registered 38 assists on the team's 47 kills.
 
Match Two
 
Despite dropping the first set to Concordia, Lindenwood scurried to a 2-1 lead, but failed to maintain it and fell in the fifth set for the second time on the day.
 
The Lions fell behind early in set one, 7-4. A kill by Karsten Staples gave Lindenwood the 15-14 lead later, but errors haunted the team. Concordia regained the lead late, and never looked back to win 25-21.
 
A pair of service aces by Moore gave Lindenwood the early 7-5 lead in the second set. Ace after ace, the Lions grew the lead to 20-15 before a kill by Staples won it for Lindenwood.
 
The third set was ultimately decided by extra points. Lindenwood grew the early lead to 9-4 with kills by Duckworth, Schindler, and Moore and forcing errors by Concordia. The Eagles finally tied it at 18 apiece and took a 21-20 lead, by Lindenwood would tie it at 25 before Moore and Duckworth ended it with kills to head into the fourth set looking to end the match.
 
Unfortunately, errors continued to hurt Lindenwood as Concordia grew a 15-2 lead in the set. The Lions would maintain pace with the Eagles, but would fall 25-13. The fifth set would prove the same as Concordia rode the momentum to a 15-8 victory and finish the comeback.
 
Duckworth and Van Dellen led the team with 12 kills in the match, while Schindler had six blocks. Overall the team surrendered 22 service errors while only hitting .101.
 
With the pair of five-set losses, Lindenwood falls to 0-2 to open the 2017 season. The Lions head back to the court at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning to face Saint Francis from California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif.