MSSU volleyball travel to Pittsburg State, host Northwest Missouri
Sep. 22—The Missouri Southern volleyball team will be on the road at MIAA rival Pittsburg State on Friday and back at home against Northwest Missouri on Saturday.
Southern (5-6, 0-2 MIAA) will be back in action after postponing matches last weekend. The Lions take on PSU at 6 p.m. Friday and then play host to No. 11 Northwest Missouri at 3 Saturday inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The Lions are looking to get back into the win column against the Gorillas (8-6, 2-3 MIAA) and the Bearcats (10-3, 4-1 MIAA). Southern is led offensively by Amelia Neels, Fernanda Canedo and Irina Alekseeva. Neels is hitting .385 this season while averaging 2.47 kills per set. Neels has 26 blocks on the year, as well. Neels is fourth in the MIAA in hitting percentage and ranks 32nd nationally.
Canedo leads the team with 2.91 kills per set and is second with 3.62 digs per set. Canedo ranks third in the MIAA in both total attacks and attacks per set. Alekseeva is hitting 2.43 kills per set this year.
Sophie Mader leads the team with 378 total assists, averaging 8.04 per set. She leads the team with 16 service aces on the season. Abbie Casper ranks third in the MIAA in digs per set and fourth in total digs, while ranking 12th and 20th nationally in both categories. She has 257 digs this year, averaging 5.47 per set. Kierson Maydew has a team-high 33 blocks on the year.
The Lions are hitting .184 on the season and have 574 kills as a team. The team has 530 assists and 791 digs on the season.
PSU has a pair of players averaging over 3.00 digs per set this season as Meg Auten is at 3.34 and Janae Thurston is at 3.02. Autten is also averaging 3.69 digs per set. Brianna Richard has 533 assists, averaging 10.66 per set, while Phoenix Bailey has a team-high 32 blocks.
Marissa Bates leads the team with 293 digs and averages 5.75 digs per set. The Gorillas hit .189 as a team.
NWMSU is led offensively by Jaden Ferguson who averages 2.79 kills per set and hits .331. Payton Kirchoefer leads the team with 2.94 kills per set, while Avery Kemp hits .309. Alyssa Rezak averages 9.53 assists per set, while Kristen Ford has a team-high 4.40 digs per set.
After this weekend, the Lions host Washburn on Sept. 30 and Emporia State on Oct. 1.
