The Missouri Southern volleyball team hosted the Holiday Inn and Comfort Suites Southern Invitational over the weekend. The Lions picked up three wins and one loss in the tournament.

“I was very proud of how well we played for each other throughout the weekend. We adapted well late in sets and worked hard no matter what,” said Head Coach Kalie Mader.

On Friday, the team won both matches. First, they defeated Black Bills State University in three sets by the scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-16. Second, they beat Colorado State-Pueblo three sets to one, winning three consecutive sets after dropping the first. Set scores were 22-25, 25-20, 25-21, and 25-23 respectively.

On Saturday, the Lions beat Cameron University three sets to one, with set scores of 29-27, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-15. In their second match on Saturday the Lions lost to Southern and Southwestern Oklahoma in a five set match with scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, and 10-15. 

“The team is very proud of their hard work but is also very excited to take on the next week of challenges,” said coach Mader.

On Tuesday evening, The Lions picked up their fourth win of the season against the visiting Drury Panthers. Another match took five sets to determine a victor, and Missouri Southern prevailed with set scores being 13-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-22, and 18-16.

Across the five matches of the season for the Lions insofar they boast a .173 attacking percentage while holding opponents to a .147 attacking percentage. 

This is the Lions’ best start to the season since 2010, and have already have won more games this year than in 2019 where the Lions only won three games. The Lions will look to improve on their 4-1 start as they the regular season continues. 

On Friday, Sept. 13 the Lions will travel to Dallas, Texas to participate in the 2019 Dallas Baptist Pioneer/Patriot Tournament. They will play four matches total. On Friday, they will match up against Colorado Christian University at 11:00 a.m. and Dallas Baptist University at 7:00 p.m.. On Saturday, they face Midwestern State University at 11:00 a.m. and Henderson State University at 3:00 p.m.