Owensboro, Ky.  – The Missouri Southern volleyball team split a pair of matches in the final day of the Kentucky Wesleyan Invite, disposing of host KWU, but falling to West Virginia State in the finale.
 
Southern (3-5) took out KWU (2-6) in straight sets to open the day. Individual set scores were 25-22, 25-14 and 25-22.
 
CC Pollard led the way for the Lions with 14 kills, while Bonnie Hegarty had nine kills and a .538 attack average. Sophie Mader dished out 28 assists, while Brooklynn McCain had 13 digs. Kierson Maydew had a career-high ten blocks, while Armyni Perales had six of her own. The team had ten total blocks.
 
The first set saw four ties and one lead change, but the took a 10-9 lead midway through and never looked back. Set two saw the Lions open up a 5-1 lead to begin and despite KWU getting within two (11-9), Southern went on a 14-5 run to end the set. The finale saw the two teams trade points and leads before a kill from Pollard put the Lions on top 17-16 and Southern never looked back.
 
Southern's second set of the day saw the Lions fall in four sets to West Virginia State (7-2). Individual set scores were 25-21, 15-25, 21-25 and 16-25.
 
Pollard, again, led the Lions with 13 kills, while Hegarty had 11 of her own. Mader dished out 43 assists and had ten digs, while McCain had 20 dis and Grace Quiroz had ten of her own. Hegarty had three blocks, while Perales added a pair of her own. Josey Goldberg and Maydew had eight kills each.
 
The Lions will be back in action next Friday as Southern opens up MIAA play at home. The Lions play host to Newman at 6 pm inside Young Gymnasium and then Pittsburg State comes into Young for a 3 pm start on Saturday.