St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Southern volleyball team punched their ticket to the MIAA Tournament with a victory over Fort Hays State prior to their regular season finale. With their 8-12 MIAA record, the Lions were tabbed with the #7 seed and will face #2 seeded Central Oklahoma in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. 

Similar to last season, the 2023 MIAA Volleyball Championships will be hosted in St. Joseph, Missouri by the St. Joseph Sports Commision. The matches will be played at the Civic Arena. MSSU's competition with UCO will be the first game played in the entire tournament. In the most recent national rankings, the Bronchos were ranked #15, ahead of the tournament one seed- Central Missouri. The rest of the matchups and tournament format can be found below.

In regular season play, the Lions finished with a record of 15-14, marking the most wins in program history since 2010. They began the year with a four game sweep of the Southern Invite, the program's first 4-0 start also since 2010. Of those four matches, the Lions only dropped one set, going 12-1 in sets played over the two-day tournament. 

On the road in their first MIAA contest, the Lions upset #18 Northwest Missouri on their home court in a five set thriller. The Lions fought hard against other nationally ranked competition, taking a set in their games against #13 Washburn, #20 Central Oklahoma, #21 Washburn, and #23 Central Missouri.

Announced by the MIAA earlier on Wednesday, Fernanda Canedo and Amelia Neels were named Second-Team All-MIAA, and Kyla Randall was named All-MIAA Honorable Mention. 

TOURNAMENT FORMAT:
Quarterfinals – Thursday, November 16
Match One | No. 2 Central Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Missouri Southern @ 12 p.m.
Match Two | No. 3 Nebraska Kearney vs. No. 6 Northwest Missouri @ 2:30 p.m.
Match Three | No. 1 Central Missouri vs. No. 8 Emporia State @ 5 p.m.
Match Four | No. 4 Missouri Western vs. No. 5 Washburn @ 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, November 17
Match Five | Winner of Match One vs. Winner of Match Two @ 5:00 PM
Match Six | Winner of Match Three vs. Winner of Match Four @ 7:30 PM

Championship – Saturday, November 18
Match Seven | Winner of Match Five vs. Winner of Match Six @ 6:00 PM