FORT SMITH, Ark. — Missouri Southern lost to Ark.-Fort Smith 3-0 on Saturday at Stubblefield Center. Missouri Southern recorded 40 kills and 68 digs but hit .109 with 26 attack errors, including a 28-26 third-set loss.
MSSU is 6-7 overall and 1-1 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play. Ark.-Fort Smith is 12-3 overall and 1-1 in Mid-America Intercollegiate play.
Addysen Alvis led the Lions with 11 kills and 12.5 points and added 15 digs.
Grace Gardner collected a team-high 16 digs and added nine kills.
Brenna Weaver finished with a team-best 22 assists and added 12 digs.
Abby Morris converted both attacks for two kills, hit 1.000 and added nine assists.
The Lions erased an 8-5 deficit with a six-point run, using
Tiana Simmons' serve, three
Addysen Alvis kills, two
Ella Breazeale kills and a Breazeale-
Brenna Weaver block sequence to move in front 11-8. Earlier, Southern had fallen behind 3-0 before getting kills from Simmons and Gardner to work back into the set. The Lions pushed the margin to 13-10 on kills by Alvis and Simmons, but Ark.-Fort Smith answered to tie the set at 13-13 and later moved ahead 17-14. MSSU got back within 17-16 on a Simmons kill, but Ark.-Fort Smith scored the final eight points to take the set 25-16.
Missouri Southern built early leads in the second set, but Ark.-Fort Smith took control through the middle and late stages to win the set 25-16. After falling behind 1-0, the Lions answered with a Gardner kill, an
Addysen Alvis ace and an
Ella Breazeale kill to move ahead 3-1, then later used kills from Breazeale and
Tiana Simmons to lead 8-5. Ark.-Fort Smith responded by tying the set at 9-9 and going in front 11-9 before Southern pulled even at 11-11 on kills by Alvis and Gardner. The Lions stayed within 16-14 after another Gardner kill, but Ark.-Fort Smith scored five of the next six points and finished the set with two service aces and a Lydia Pitts kill.
MSSU stayed in the third set by answering repeated deficits, tying the score at 15-15, 18-18, 22-22, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26. Earlier, after Ark.-Fort Smith moved ahead 10-5,
Ella Breazeale had a kill,
Addysen Alvis and Breazeale combined on a block, and Breazeale added another kill to bring the Lions within 10-8. Southern got two Morris kills and Morris service ace through the middle of the set, then
Kasey Goldberg's ace tied it at 15-15 after kills from Alvis and
Tiana Simmons. Missouri Southern rallied again from 20-22 on a Gardner kill and a
Kenzie Jones block, then erased a 24-22 deficit on another Gardner kill and an Ark.-Fort Smith attack error; after one more Gardner kill and a Simmons kill made it 26-26, Ark.-Fort Smith scored the final two points to take the set 28-26.
