St. Joseph, Mo. - The Lion volleyball team capped off their first weekend of conference play, taking on the Missouri Western Griffons who received votes in this week's AVCA poll. Despite the final score of 3-1 in favor of MWSU, all four sets were very close. Two went to extra points, one was decided by three points, and the other by five points. With the loss, Southern's record sits at 7-3.

Midway through the first set, MSSU had a run of five straight points to give them a 16-15 lead. The back and forth continues after that, but ended 27-25 in favor of MWSU. 

The hosts used their momentum to take the second set 25-20. 

Finding themselves down 25-24 in the third, the Lions scored the final three points to take the set 27-25. Jaryn Benning had the final two points via a block and a kill. 

Southern was off to a hot start in the fourth set, scoring four of the first five points. The Griffons rallied back and the teams battled back and forth until Missouri Western pulled ahead late for a 25-22 set victory. 

Leading the team with 18 kills was Fernanda Canedo, also recording 15 digs for a double-double. Jaryn Benning was one kill shy of a double-double at 9 kills and 19 digs. Southern's assists category was led by Hannah Allick with 29, and Sydney Unruh led the team with 30 digs. 

The team will play one more contest on the road before returning home. On Tuesday, September 19 the Lions will visit GLVC members in William Jewell for a match starting at 6:00 PM.  Read Full Article