After two losses to ranked opponents in the last week, the Missouri Southern volleyball Lions’ schedule isn’t getting any easier.

Southern faces a road test at 7 p.m. tonight against second-ranked Truman State University. The Lions fell Sept. 28 to No. 19 Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by a 3-1 score and Sept. 30 to the No. 11 University of Central Missouri by a 3-0 margin.

“We’re not discouraged about the match against Truman,” sophomore Sarah Joles said. “It’s our time to shine; it actually gives us more confidence because we come back angry and bitter. We’ll come up strong.”

Sophomore Ashley Hill echoed Joles’ assessment.

“We’re not discouraged; its gonna be tough,” Hill said. “Its anybody’s game, anytime.”

Saturday, the Lions will travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to play the Missouri Western Griffons (11-8, 3-4). On Tuesday, they will head to Emporia, Kan., to play the Emporia State Hornets (10-10, 4-4). Neither team is ranked.

“The matches are going to be just as tough; we’re going to take them just as seriously as against a ranked team,” Joles said.

Hill agreed with Joles.

“We don’t look at a non-ranked team as less than us; we were not ranked at one point, too,” Hill said.

In the match against Southern Ilinois-Edwardsvile, sophomore Cherrie Baugh had 13 kills (a team-high) and hit .522 for the match. Senior Ashley Mehrer had 11 kills and no errors, hitting .647 for the match and had six blocks. Senior Tessa Woods had 13 kills, while Hill had 11 kills. Joles had 36 assists. Senior Megan Norman had 22 digs and junior Sarah Hoffmeister had 10 digs. Freshman Erin Mitchem had 19 assists.

In the match against UCM, Mehrer had 14 kills and five blocks and hit .458 in the match. Woods and junior Ashley Wright both had nine kills and three blocks. Norman had 22 digs and Joles had 28 assists.

The next home match for the Lions will be at 7 p.m. Sat. Oct. 21 against No. 10 Washburn. The meeting will be a chance for the Lions to avenge a 3-1 loss Sept. 16 at the hands of the Lady Blues.