The Missouri Southern volleyball team dropped a straight set match Friday against contender Pittsburg State, 3-0. Individual set scores were 22-25, 15-25, 16-25. 

The Lions (0-30, 0-18 MIAA) were led by sophomore Katie Politte with 10 kills and a .214 attack average. Junior Sydney Potts had 13 assists, while freshman Sarah Cunningham had six digs. 

“I thought we played a really good 3rd game,” Head Coach Trish Knight said. “We played okay in two and three also. If I could change anything about the season, it would be to have no injuries. It is especially sad that we lost Shakila Balhki and Katie Collins for the season. I really hate it for both of them.” 

Southern led for most of the first set, but Pitt tied the set at 20. After the Lions went back up 22-20, Pitt scored five of the final seven points of the set. The Gorillas won the final two sets easily with only one lead change in set two and two in set three. 

“It is really tough to lose that much, but with all we went through as a team,” Knight said. 

“I think there are more positives than negatives. We just kept getting better and better. Our young kids got so much experience and we can build on that going into spring season. We will have practically our whole team in the gym this spring and we add a really nice recruiting class.”

Pittsburg State (17-13, 7-10 MIAA) had two players finish with double-figure kills, led by 13 from Crystal Whitten. 

“One word that describes the season is perseverance,” Knight said. “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger. We should get incredible strength from going through all we did. Life lessons through athletics.” 

Unfortunately the Lions finish the season 0-30 and 0-18 in the MIAA.