Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern volleyball team will head up I-44 tomorrow as the Lions take on Southwest Baptist in a non-conference battle in Bolivar.
Southern (5-5, 0-2 MIAA) is coming off two tough losses to start conference play. The Lions have won the last six meetings in a row with the Bearcats, but haven't played since the 2018 season, the last full year for SBU in the MIAA. Live stats and video will be available and links to each can be found in the story links section above.
The Lions come into the meeting ranking in the top-25 nationally in Division II in four different offensive and defensive categories. Southern ranks 20
th nationally in total attacks, while the Lions rank 23
rd in digs, 24
th in kills and 25
th in assists. Southern ranks third in the MIAA in each of those categories, while ranking fourth in blocks.
Individually,
Abbie Casper ranks fifth nationally and second in the MIAA in total digs, while ranking 13
th nationally and third in the league in digs per set.
Amelia Neels ranks 33
rd nationally in hitting percentage, while ranking third in the MIAA in that category.
Casper has 238 total digs this year, averaging 5.41 per set. Neels is hitting a team-high .388, while posting 2.48 kills per set and 25 total blocks.
Sophie Mader has 355 total assists to average 8.07 per set, while serving up a team-high 14 aces.
Fernanda Canedo is averaging 2.93 kills per set and 3.48 digs per set, while
Irina Alekseeva is averaging 2.45 kills per set.
SBU (5-5) comes into the match with a team attack percentage of .142. The Bearcats are led by Azalea Clendenning who averages 2.66 kills per set. SBU has seen multiple different players serve in the setter position this year with Bailey Lasater leading the way with 122 assists. Loran Pritchett and Katie Pogue have 78 and 75 assists, respectively. Aleena Peterson has a team-high 4.12 digs per set, while Lauren Compton has a team-high 29 blocks.
After this matchup, the Lions will head back home to take on Missouri Western this Friday and Central Missouri on Saturday.
