St. Joseph, Mo. - The Lion volleyball team played in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal round Friday evening following their upset the day before. Playing as the opposition to Southern was the three seed and #12 nationally ranked Nebraska-Kearney. The Lopers took the match 3-0 to put an end to MSSU's historic tournament run.
Keeping up with the Lopers early, the Lions matched the score a few times before UNK jumped ahead. They would go on to win the first set 25-15 to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, Southern took their first lead of the match at 2-1, and extended it to 8-4 later on. Kearney then took momentum and went on a few late runs to push their set lead to 2-0 with a 25-19 second set final. Despite trailing early in the third set, the Lions fought back to even the score at 7-7. UNK then took a 15-9 lead, but again MSSU responded to trail just 18-17. The Lopers were able to hold off the Lions late, winning the third set by a narrow margin of 25-23, and the match 3-0.
Leaders for the Lions:
Kills:
Alana Moesch (11)
Assists:
Hannah Allick (21)
Digs:
Kyla Randall (16)
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.
Fernanda Canedo and
Amelia Neels were named Second-Team All-MIAA, and
Kyla Randall earned All-MIAA honorable mention honors.
Their win over two seeded, #15 nationally ranked Central Oklahoma marked 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.
