Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern volleyball team will be back in action this weekend as the Lions will play host to Fort Hays State on Friday and No. 5 ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
First serve against the Tigers on Friday is set for 6 pm with the start against the Lopers set for 7 pm on Saturday.
Southern (8-9, 3-5 MIAA) comes into the weekend looking to get back on the winning side of the scoreboard. The Lions rank 15
th in Division II in total attacks, while ranking 21
st in digs, 25
th in assists and 26
th in kills.
Individually,
Abbie Casper is third nationally in total digs, while ranking fourth in digs per set. She ranks second in the MIAA in each category.
Fernanda Canedo is 20
th nationally in total attacks and third in the MIAA in that statline.
Amelia Neels ranks 30
th nationally in attack average, while ranking third in the MIAA and
Sophie Mader is 30
th nationally in assists, while ranking fifth in the league.
FHSU (7-10, 2-7 MIAA) comes into the match, having lost four of its last five matches. The Tigers are led offensively by Riley Tinder who averages 2.67 kills per set. Gracie Rains averages 2.57 kills per set, while Mykah Eshbaugh averages 2.49 kills per set.
Jaida Felix (5.00 a/s) and Elysia Glowacz (4.70 a/z) are first and second in assists, while Jaden Daffer has a team high 236 digs, averaging 3.32 per set. Emily Ellis has 58 blocks on the year, averaging 0.91 blocks per set, while Morgan Christiansen has 53 blocks and averages 0.84 b/s.
UNK (17-2, 7-2 MIAA) comes into the set ranked fifth nationally, but the Lopers lost a mid-week match at home to Washburn on Tuesday. UNK is led offensively by Emersen Cyza with 3.93 kills per set, while Bailey Sterling averages 3.00 kills per set.
Peyton Neff dishes out 10.95 assists per set, while Jensen Rowse has a team-high 315 digs and averages 4.70 digs per set.
After this match, the Lions will have a mid-week game on Tuesday next week, hosting Newman, before going on the road to take on Central Missouri on Friday and Missouri Western on Saturday.
