MSSU volleyball defeats Pittsburg State 3-2

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern picked up its first conference win in three seasons, winning at Pittsburg State three sets to two and picking up a win in the State Farm Trophy Series. Individual set scores were 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 13-25, 15-6.

Southern (4-8, 1-3 MIAA) was led offensively by Krishna Merriman as the sophomore had 17 kills and 12 digs.Abby Finder had 47 assists and nine digs, while Callie Whetstone and Katie Politte had 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Katie Wiele had a team-high 16 digs.

Pitt (4-7, 1-2 MIAA) had two players in double-figure kills with 12 from Madi Mosier and 10 from Ary Crittleton.

Southern opened the first set on fire, racing to a 7-2 lead after a kill from Merriman led to a Gorillas timeout. The Lions opened up a 16-6 lead and forced another PSU timeout, but the Gorillas scored three-straight points coming out of the timeout and eventually cut the Lions' lead to just five (20-15). Southern held on for the set with Whetstone putting away the final point.

Both teams traded points to start the second set and it was tied at ten midway through. Pitt took a 15-12 lead, forcing a Lions' timeout and coming out of the timeout, the Lions scored two points to cut the lead to 15-14 and tied the set at 16. PSU, however, would go on a 9-4 run to take the set.

The Lions opened the third set on an 11-7 run, and led 16-13, forcing a PSU timeout. The Lions led 21-15 and PSU scored four-straight points, a quick kill from Merrriman stopped the run. The Lions' lead was 22-21, forcing a Southern timeout. An attack error from the Gorillas gave the Lions set point at 24-22 and a kill from Politte closed out the set.

PSU opened up a 17-9 lead in the fourth set, forcing a Southern timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Lions scored a point to stop the run, but the Gorillas scored five quick points to get the lead to 12 at 22-10. The Lions scored three more points, but PSU closed out the set to force the deciding fifth frame.

The Lions had first serve in the fifth set and Whetstone started things off with an ace. The Lions led 4-3 after a kill from Merriman and another kill from Merriman put the score at 5-3, forcing a PSU timeout. The Gorillas scored a point out of the timeout, but another Merriman kill made the score 6-4, Lions. An ace from Wiele put the lead at three (7-4) and another one gave the Lions an 8-4 lead at the turn. A kill from Whetstone made the score 10-5, forcing another timeout for the Gorillas. An ace from Jacy Ermel made the score 12-5, and another one from Ermel gave the Lions a 13-5 advantage. A kill from Merriman gave the Lions match point and an ace from Merriman gave Southern the match.

The Lions will be back in action this Friday as Southern plays host Missouri Western at 7 pm inside Young Gymnasium.