Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern volleyball team will head north this weekend as the Lions will be in Maryville to take on No. 13 ranked Northwest Missouri State on Friday evening at 6 pm.
 
The Lions (10-13, 5-9 MIAA) are coming off a sweep at home of No. 19 Central Oklahoma. The Lions held the Bronchos to just 13 points in the first set and 15 in the final set.
 
Southern ranks fifth nationally in total attacks and sixth nationally in total digs. The Lions rank 12^th nationally in kills and 15^th nationally in total assists. Southern ranks third in the MIAA in digs, while ranking fourth in assists and kills.
 
Individually, Abbie Casper ranks third nationally and second in the MIAA in total digs, while ranking eighth nationally and second in the MIAA in digs per set.
 
Fernanda Canedo has a team-high 3.00 kills per set and 2.94 digs per set, while Amelia Neels is hitting .347 and averaging 2.47 kills per set. Sophie Mader dishes out 9.04 assists per set and has 850 on the season, while Casper has 523 digs on the season, averaging 5.56 digs per set. Kierson Maydew has a team-high 78 blocks, while Neels has 73.
 
Northwest Missouri (17-5, 11-3 MIAA) has won five matches in a row, including wins over Central Missouri and Washburn. The Bearcats are led by Payton Kirchhoefer with 3.33 kills per set, while Jaden Ferguson averages 3.03 kills per set and hits .329. Alyssa Rezac dishes out 10.51 assists per set, while Kristen Ford averages 4.03 digs per set.
 
Live video and stats for each match will be available and links to each can be found in the story links section above.
 
After this match, the Lions will be in action at Emporia State on Wednesday next week and at Washburn on Thursday.