The end of the regular season looms for the Missouri Southern volleyball team. The Lions had a tough road trip over the weekend dropping matches to both Emporia State University and Washburn University. The Lions had already faced both teams this season at home, winning against Emporia State and losing to Washburn. 

The match against Emporia State went the distance, needing a full

five sets to determine a victor. Set scores were 20-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18 and 8-15. Sophomore Janelle Brehm contributed 24 kills and 19 digs to lead the Lions’ comeback effort while junior Morgan Nash dished out 32 assists and 12 digs. 

Against No. 3 ranked Washburn the Lions were led by Nash and junior CC Pollard who each contributed eight kills, but the Lions ultimately fell in straight sets. Set scores were 15-25, 18-25 and 19-25. 

The losses from the weekend bring the Lions’ record to 13-15 overall and 6-12 conference. They will visit two more MIAA opponents this weekend, The University of Nebraska at Kearney Friday the 15th at 6p.m. and Fort Hays State University for Saturday the

16th at 12p.m. These are the last two matches of the regular season. 

Overall there has been a big improvement for the Lions compared to last season as they still could end with a 0.500 overall winning percentage on the season.