Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern volleyball team will be in action this weekend as the Lions play host to No. 8 Washburn on Friday evening and Emporia State on Saturday afternoon.
Game times are 6 pm on Friday and 3 pm on Saturday with each match being played inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Live results and video will be available for each match and links can be found in the story links section above.
The Lions (6-8, 1-4 MIAA) are coming off a thrilling five-set win at home over Missouri Western that saw Southern go down 11-7 in the fifth set, only to recover and win the match in extra points. In that match,
Jaryn Benning had 15 15 kills and 16 digs.
Sophie Mader nearly had a triple-double as she had 47 assists, nine kills and nine digs.
Fernanda Canedo had 13 kills, while
Abbie Casper had 30 digs.
Hannah Allick had 15 digs, while
Amelia Neels had ten kills and
Kierson Maydew had six blocks.
Casper ranks ninth nationally in digs per set and 12
th nationally in total digs, while ranking third in the MIAA in both those categories. Neels is 26
th nationally in hitting percentage, while ranking fourth in the MIAA in that category. Mader is fourth in the MIAA in service aces.
Neels leads the offense with a .382 attack average and 2.48 kills per set. She also is second on the team with 32 blocks. Canedo leads the team with 2.82 kills per set, while Mader has a team-high 480 assists, averaging 8.28 per set with a team-high 21 service aces.
Casper has 5.48 digs per set this season, while Canedo averages 3.21.
Kierson Maydew has a team-high 33 blocks on the year.
Washburn is 12-2 on the season and 4-2 in the MIAA. The Ichabods are hitting .240 as a team and are led offensively by Jalyn Stevenson at 3.00 kills per set. Washburn uses a pair of setters with Corinna McMullen averaging 6.10 assists per set and Sydney Conner dishing out 4.66 per set.
Defensively, Sydney Pullen and Sophie McMullen average 4.33 and 3.48 digs per set, while Kassidy Pfeiffer and Halle Meister have 31 and 29 blocks, respectively.
Emporia State is 4-11 overall and 1-5 in MIAA play. The Hornets are led offensively by Leah Mach who has 159 kills and averages 2.89 per set. Riley Bernskoetter (4.53 a/s) and Ainslee Stepp (4.11 a/s) lead the way in assists, while Shelby Ebert has a team-high 23 service aces.
Defensively, Megan Stretton has a team-high 4.69 digs per set and Mach is averaging 3.02, while Dorianne Lebron has a team-high 18 blocks.
After this weekend, the Lions will be back in action next week as Southern plays host to Pittsburg State on Tuesday at 6pm, Fort Hays State on Friday at 6 pm and Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 7 pm.
