TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Missouri Southern State defeated Northeastern State 3-1 on Friday, taking the match 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18. Missouri Southern finished with a .280 hitting percentage, 51 kills and 12 total blocks, while Northeastern hit .168.
MSSU is 6-6 overall and 1-0 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play. Northeastern St. is 1-10 overall and 0-1 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play.
Addysen Alvis led the Lions with 15 kills and 20 points, adding seven digs, four blocks and two service aces.
Kenzie Jones finished with 11 kills on .353 hitting and recorded a team-high six blocks.
Brenna Weaver posted 36 assists, six digs, two blocks and a service ace.
Kasey Goldberg collected a team-high 19 digs and added two service aces.
Southern turned the first set with a 7-of-8 run that carried it from a 14-12 deficit to a 19-15 lead, including four straight points with
Brenna Weaver serving. Earlier,
Addysen Alvis opened the scoring with a kill from Weaver,
Grace Gardner added an ace for a 3-1 advantage, and
Tiana Simmons' early kills helped the visitors stay even through 7-7. Northeastern State later moved ahead 14-11, but Simmons and Weaver answered with kills before a Riverhawk bad set tied it at 14-14; after the teams traded the next two points, Gardner and Simmons recorded kills during Weaver's service turn as the Lions moved in front. Northeastern State cut the margin from 19-15 to 19-18, but Simmons answered with another kill, Jones was credited with a block on an attack error for 22-19, and
Olivia Burmeister closed the 25-22 set win with a kill from Weaver.
Missouri Southern built early separation in the second set, scoring the first two points on a Jones block and a
Brenna Weaver ace before later moving ahead 7-3 with a
Kasey Goldberg ace and an
Addysen Alvis block. Northeastern State answered to tie the set at 11-11 and later went in front 15-13, but MSSU responded with kills from Jones and Alvis before a
Jordyn Whitfield kill gave it a 17-16 lead. Alvis added two more late kills, and Southern moved back ahead 20-19 after consecutive Riverhawk errors. Northeastern State then won four straight points to go up 23-20 and, after another Alvis kill, closed out the set 25-21.
The Lions withstood a late Riverhawk push and finished the third set 25-23 after a Gardner kill from Whitfield broke a 23-23 tie and an attack error ended the set. Earlier, Missouri Southern trailed 9-6 before Jones put down a kill to start a six-point surge, with
Kasey Goldberg adding an ace and
Addysen Alvis,
Ella Breazeale and Gardner contributing at the net to move in front 12-9. The Lions kept building from there, getting kills from Alvis, Jones,
Tiana Simmons and Breazeale while stretching the lead to 20-12 and later 23-15. Northeastern State answered with eight straight points to tie the set at 23-23, but MSSU took the final two points to claim the set.
Missouri Southern moved from a 14-13 deficit to a 20-14 lead in the fourth set by scoring seven consecutive points, with Whitfield serving the final six points of the run. Earlier, Northeastern State scored the first four points, but Southern worked back behind kills from
Addysen Alvis, Jones and
Ella Breazeale before Gardner's kill from
Brenna Weaver tied the set at 9-9. The decisive stretch included an
Ella Breazeale block for a 15-14 lead, back-to-back
Addysen Alvis kills and blocks from Breazeale and
Brenna Weaver. After Northeastern State cut the margin to 20-16, Alvis answered with a kill, Jones added a block with Weaver and a late kill, and Alvis followed with a service ace before Jones' final block closed the 25-18 set win.
