Mt. Carmel, Ill. – After surviving two set points to win the first set, Wabash Valley suddenly found itself on cruise control, coasting to wins in the next two sets to earn a sweep of its' Great Rivers Athletic Conference match against Lincoln Trail on Thursday night at Spencer Sports Center.

The Warriors, winners of two straight since losing their first match of the season on Monday at Kaskaskia, improved to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in the GRAC.  Lincoln Trail fell to 2-4 and 1-1.

WVC needed overtime to win a hard-fought first set, 28-26. However, the next two sets were nothing like the first.

Jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead, the Warriors made easy work of Lincoln Trail, winning the second set 25-9.

The third set went almost as quickly. An 11-4 lead early turned into a 25-14 match-clinching victory for the hosts.

So, what happened?

"I think we found our groove better in the second and third set and brought a lot more energy to the court," said freshman setter Kassidy Drone.

Said Valerie Ramos: "In the first set we were pretty flat. But we recovered and got steadier."

Warrior assistant Syreeta Willis said that the sluggish start was a point of conversation during early timeouts.

"We just talked about how we needed to play our game," Willis said. "Luckily, we pulled the first set out and played our game the rest of the way out."

Willis lauded the play of her outside hitters. One of them, Andrea Andujar, collected a season-high 13 kills to lead the Warriors. Malena Bixby and Jacklyn Simms each had one block, while Caelyn Nelson led in digs with 18.

Ramos and Nelson both served up two aces in the win.

Setters Ramos and Drone both had big numbers, at 20 and 18, respectively.

Here is another big number: WVC coach Mark Colvin is approaching a coaching milestone. He now has 297 wins, just three away from the 300 mark.

The Warriors next play on Monday at John A. Logan. Earlier this season, WVC upset Logan, ending the Vols' GRAC-record 32-game winning streak.