KEARNEY, Neb. — Missouri Southern State (7-18, 1-10 Mid-America Intercollegiate) lost to No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney (26-2, 11-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate) 3-0 on Friday at Health & Sports Center, with set scores of 12-25, 15-25 and 13-25. Missouri Southern finished with 20 kills, while UNK hit .301.
MSSU is 7-18 overall and 1-10 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play. Nebraska Kearney is 26-2 overall and 11-0 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play.
Grace Gardner led the Lions with six kills and added six digs and two block assists.
Brenna Weaver finished with 13 assists, six digs, an ace and two block assists.
Addysen Alvis collected 11 digs and added an ace.
Kasey Goldberg posted 10 digs, two service aces and converted her lone attack attempt.
The Lions were hurt by an eight-point Lopers run midway through the first set, turning a 10-5 deficit into 18-5 before
Tiana Simmons ended the stretch with a kill from
Brenna Weaver. Earlier, the Lions answered the opening point with a Gardner kill and later used a
Kenzie Jones kill and a Jones-
Addysen Alvis block to get back to 7-4. Weaver assisted kills by Gardner, Jones, Simmons and
Hanna Lauterbach, then added a service ace as Southern scored three straight points to move from 21-6 to 21-9.
Kasey Goldberg added a late service ace after a UNK service error, but Missouri Southern dropped the set 25-12.
MSSU built an early 4-2 lead in the second set behind a
Hanna Lauterbach-
Addysen Alvis block, a Gardner kill, a
Kasey Goldberg ace and a
Kaelyn Kendrick kill, but Nebraska Kearney answered with five straight points to move ahead 7-4. The Lions continued to side out through kills from Jones, Kendrick, Alvis and Gardner, yet the Lopers kept the margin growing with repeated kills from Grace Schmedding and Celia Spilker.
Brenna Weaver and Jones combined on two blocks in the latter half of the set, including one that brought Southern to 12-16 and another at 14-23. Alvis added a late kill off a Goldberg assist, but UNK closed the set at 25-15.
Southern could not recover after Nebraska Kearney turned a 5-8 set into a 5-16 deficit with an eight-point run, despite an earlier
Addysen Alvis ace that had helped keep the Lions within three. Earlier,
Hanna Lauterbach gave MSSU a 2-1 lead with a kill from
Brenna Weaver, but the Lopers answered with five straight points before Gardner stopped the stretch with a kill.
Tiana Simmons later put down a kill from
Abby Morris, and Jones and Simmons combined on a block as Missouri Southern tried to slow UNK's separation. The Lions' best late response came from 8-20, when Gardner and Lauterbach each had a kill, Lauterbach and Gardner teamed for a block, and MSSU scored four straight points. Gardner and Lauterbach added another block at 24-12, but the Lopers closed the set 25-13.
