This weekend, the Missouri Southern volleyball team headed to Bolivar, Mo. where they dropped a pair of matches in the Southwest Baptist Tournament.

Both teams played out of conference games at the invitational. The Lions fell to Henderson State 3-2 and Southern Arkansas 3-0.

Individual set scores for the match with Henderson were 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17 and 11-15. Individual set scores against Southern Arkansas were 10-25, 17-25, and 19-25.

Against Henderson State, sophomore Katie Politte led the Lions with 21 kills and 13 digs while hitting .327 for the match. Freshman Abby Finder dished out 46 assists while Junior Sydney Potts had a match-high 19 digs. Freshman Kaycia Fry had nine digs, while freshman Callie Whetstone and junior Nai Montano had nine and eight kills, respectively.

Against Southern Arkansas, Politte again led the Lions this time with 11 kills and a .476 attack average. Finder had 22 assists and eight digs while Potts had seven digs.

“Over the weekend, we played pretty well considering that we lost another starter in the first game of the tournament and had to adjust our lineup again,” Head Coach Trish Knight said.

“I felt we had a good effort and if one thing is true, we have learned to adjust to about anything at this point.

“Our outside attackers did a better job and some of our freshmen defensive players started to step it up, so that was good to see.”

On Tuesday, the volleyball team headed back on the road where they faced fourth-ranked Washburn. The Lions fell in three straight sets and the individual set scores were 14-25, 17-25, and 11-25.

“Washburn is definitely a challenge to play,” Knight said. “They are solid in every position and they have veteran players who are used to performing well and meeting expectations every match.”  

Southern [0-19, 0-8 MIAA] was led offensively by Politte as she had nine kills and six digs. Finder had 21 assists, while Montano had nine kills of her own. Payton Graves had five kills and a .833 hitting percentage, while Potts, Danielle Severns and Fry had five digs each.

Washburn [19-1, 6-1 MIAA] hit .434 as a team, led by three different Lady Blues with eight kills each.

“As we go from here, I think we will try to run a 6-2 offense and encourage our players to hang in there and to realize that we are talented, but young and that lack of experience is something we have little control over,” Knight said.

“The good thing is that our young kids are getting a lot of experience that other freshmen in the conference are not getting and it will help them in the future as we try to build a good program.”

The Lions will be back in action tonight at home as they take on Emporia State at 7 p.m. in Young Gymnasium.