The Lindenwood men's volleyball team dropped three sets to No. 8 Ball State on Saturday evening in Hyland Arena.

OVERVIEW
The Lions were hot on the Cardinals' heels in the first set, only losing in a two-point deficit with the 23-25 final score. Jeremy Kirch had a strong set, leading Lindenwood with four kills as well as tallying two digs and a block assist to keep the Lions in it defensively. 

Ball State ran away with the second set once they gained momentum, pulling away with a 25-13 victory. Attacking errors got the best of the Lions in this one, but they looked to clean things up and make a late comeback in the third set. 

Some lineup changes were made for Lindenwood, and AJ Lewis stepped in to lead the way with seven kills in the third, while Cal Werths and Clay Wieter contributed two kills and one block assist each. Wieter also tallied a solid 14 receptions with zero errors, making an instant impact upon his substitution into the game. Diego Negron held steady with four kills, five receptions and two digs. Despite the strong offensive and defensive efforts from Lindenwood, the Cardinals took the third in another 25-23 victory. 

Game leaders for Lindenwood include Lewis and Negron with seven kills each, and Connor Sheehan with 34 set assists. Kyle Deutschmann took the reception category today with 21 total and zero errors. Negron also posted the most digs for the Lions with five total, and Kadin Warner tallied the most block assists with four overall.

Up next, the Lions will host Loyola Chicago on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in Hyland Arena.