St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Southern volleyball team kicked off the 2023 MIAA Volleyball Tournament Thursday afternoon as the #7 seed, taking on the #2 seed and #15 nationally ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos. After dropping the first set, the Lions won the next three to pull off the 3-1 upset victory over the Bronchos.
That win marks MSSU's first ever victory in the current MIAA Postseason Tournament format. From 1982-92 and 2006-07, MIAA champions were determined through postseason tournament. From 1993-2005, 2008-2011, and 2014, MIAA champions were determined by double round robin record. In the spring of 2021, the Lions nearly defeated the Bronchos in the postseason tournament, but fell 24-22 in the fifth set.
In the first set, the score was pretty tight until about midway through, when UCO pulled ahead for a 25-17 victory. Southern jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but from there the teams went back and forth until the end, as the Lions evened the score at 1-1 with a 25-22 second set final. In similar fashion, MSSU started the third set with an early lead at 6-2. UCO made a late push and took a 21-19 lead, but the Lions won six of the last eight points for a 25-23 win. The fourth set was a bit different, as Southern found themselves trailing for a majority of the set. They took the lead at 18-17 and never trailed again, taking the match 3-1 with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set.
Alana Moesch had a double-double with 15 kills on a .350 attack percentage, and 11 digs.
Fernanda Canedo (13) and
Jaryn Benning (10) both hit double digit kills as well. The digs category was led by
Kyla Randall (30), and the assists column featured 25 from
Hannah Allick and 22 from
Landrey VanOverschelde. In the blocks section, the Lions had 16 block assists in the match,
Amelia Neels, Moesch, and
Kyra Thomas with four each.
With their victory, the Lions move on to the second round and will play on Friday, November 17 at 5:00 PM. They will face the #3 seed and #12 nationally ranked Nebraska-Kearney Lopers who defeated the #6 seed Northwest Missouri Bearcats in three sets, 25-20, 25-17, and 25-15.
