Lincolnview wins NWC thriller vs. Leipsic

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Things didn’t look so good for Lincolnview in the fifth and deciding set of Thursday’s key Northwest Conference match against Leipsic.

The Lancers trailed 7-2 but fought back and tied the set 9-9, then scored six of the next seven points to finish a 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10 win over the Vikings. It was the first loss of the season for Leipsic (10-1, 1-1 NWC) while Lincolnview improved to 8-1 (2-0 NWC).

In that fifth set, we took a timeout and talked about responding and pressuring them on offense,” Lincolnview head coach JaNahn Evans said. “We found a good rhythm and it was a team win tonight.”

“We were definitely expecting and preparing for a competitive and tough Leipsic team and that is definitely what we saw,” Evans added. “They have a great team with very strong attackers with a lot of options on who to go to.”

Lincolnview bolted out to a 5-0 lead in the first set only to see Leipsic roar back to take a 16-9. The Vikings went on to win 25-19, but the Lancers bounced back with a 25-22 victory in the second set and a 25-21 win in the third set.

However, momentum shifted in the fourth set as Leipsic jumped out to a 13-9 lead and went on to win 25-19, forcing a fifth set.

Along the way, senior Kendall Bollenbacher, who went over the 1,000 career kill mark earlier in the week, set a school record with a single match mark of 29.

“I think Kendall had an amazing game tonight,” Evans said. “She’s a dominant player on our team and she’s such a threat at the net. She’s a captain and it showed tonight in that fifth set. She led her team to a win.”

Along with setting a record for kills in a match, Bollenbacher had 17 digs. Allie Miller finished with 10 digs, while Breck Evans and Ashlyn Price had 26 and 22 assists respectively, and each had nine digs. McKayla Blankemeyer added 11 kills and seven blocks in the win.  

Lincolnview will host Shawnee on Saturday with the varsity match starting at 9 a.m., followed by junior varsity and freshman matches.