Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern Volleyball team closed out the 2017 season tonight with a three sets to none loss at the hands of 19th-ranked Central Missouri. Individual set scores were 11-25, 20-25, and 12-25.
The Lions (11-20, 4-14 MIAA) were led by
Bailey Rexford with nine kills.
Morgan Nash had 20 assists, while
Janelle Brehm had six kills and eight digs.
Teryn Scott had seven digs, while
Kat Gries added five of her own.
Central Missouri (24-7, 14-4 MIAA) had three in double-figure kills, led by 13 from Kasey Hohlen.
Set one saw the Jennies led from start to finish. Set two was tightly contested with nine tied scores and three lead changes. The Lions opened the set with a 3-1 lead and after Central had tied it multiple times, the Lions took a 10-9 lead midway through on back-to-back blocks by
Alicia Pickett and
Alyx Gepford, as well as Brehm and Pickett.
Central went ahead 17-13 and led 20-15 to force a Lions' timeout, but Southern came back and got within three (23-20), before Central scored the final two points to take the set.
Set three saw nine tied scores and five lead changes, all early on. Both teams traded points until the Jennies broke a 9-9 tie with a 9-0 run to lead 18-9 and force a Southern timeout. The Jennies would score seven of the final ten points to take the match.
The match saw the Lions say goodbye to three seniors on the roster.
Bailey Rexford, Alyx Gepford and
Marija Milivojev all played their final games inside Young Gymnasium.
