Goodwell, Okla. – The Missouri Southern volleyball team went 1-1 today in day one of the 2016 Aggies Challenge, hosted by Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Southern lost to Texas-Permian Basin 3-2 in the first match of the day, but won 3-0 against OPSU in match two. 
 
In the first match of the day, the Lions (1-1) dropped a heartbreaker in five sets to the University of Texas – Permian Basin. Individual set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 17-25 and 10-15.
 
Monica White led the way with 12 kills and a .346 attack average, while Bailey Rexford had 15 kills and 10 digs for the double-double. Christina Perlinger had ten kills, while Alicia Pickett had five kills and eight blocks. Bradyn Wall dished out 20 assists, while Whitney Harrison added 19 and 14 digs. Kat Gries had 12 digs.
 
After set one was tied at 11 each, the Lions ripped off three-straight points to lead 14-11 and force a UTPB timeout. The lead was 17-12, but the Falcons fought back and got to within two (19-17) forcing a Southern timeout. The Lions responded and closed out the set to win 25-22.
 
Set two was back-and-forth for the first ten points, but the Falcons took a 17-13 lead midway through to force a Lions' timeout. Southern got to within three (22-19) to force a UTPB timeout, but the Falcons went on a 4-1 run to end the set.
 
The third set was all Lions. Southern forced two UTPB timeouts within the first 15 points, the second after the Lions had opened up an early 12-3 lead. The Lions led by ten on two different occasions and closed out the set 25-16.
 
UTPB went on top 7-6 early on in set four and led from there on out to force the deciding set. In the fifth set, Southern led 2-1 to start things off and again at 3-2, but the Falcons went on a 6-1 run to lead 8-4 at the turn and didn't look back. Southern got to within two (11-9), but UTPB scored four of the final five points.

In the match with OPSU, the Lions played stellar defense, limiting OPSU to .000 in attack average in the match. Southern had eight team blocks, and won the match by scores of 25-22, 25-8 and 27-25. 

In the first set, both teams traded points throughout the first half, but the Lions took a 10-9 lead and wouldn't look back. A kill from Bridgette Jaeger ended the set. 

Set two was all Lions. With the set tied at four, a kill from Christina Perlinger made the score 5-4 and Whitney Harrison served seven points in a row as the Lions reeled off an 8-0 run to go up 12-4. After a sideout, a 7-1 run made the score 19-6  and the Lions would win set two 25-8.

In set three, Southern led 19-6 midway through the match and 20-11 again, but the Aggies (0-2) went on an 11-2 run to tie the set at 22. The set was tied again at 23, 24 and 25, before Southern scored the final two points of the set to win the match, the last coming on a kill from Mikayla Monk. 

Perlingler led the way in the match with seven kills and hit .333. White hit six kills, while Harrison had four kills, 24 assists and seven digs. Rexford had five kills and seven digs. 

Harrison set the tone for the Lions from the service line in the match as she served out 15 points for the Lions including seven in a row in set two and six in set three. 

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow as they face off with UC-Colorado Springs at 9 am, and Northwestern Oklahoma at 1 pm.