FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 14, 2006

Lions split in final day of Henderson State Tournament

Arkadelphia, AR -- The Missouri Southern volleyball team lost to Alabama Huntsville to start the day, but rebounded in the second match to take down Arkansas Tech and came away with a split for the second-straight day in the Henderson State Tournament.

Southern (22-8) beat UAH in almost every statistical category, including kills, average, assists, and blocks, but fell to the Chargers, three games to one. Game scores were 29-31, 30-15, 27-30, and 19-30.

After dropping game one in extra points, Southern came back and held UAH to a negative .027 attack average, while hitting .385 themselves and beat the Chargers handily in game two.

UAH (8-15) came back and won the next two games to take home the match. The Chargers were led by 14 kills from Kristen Wengert. Yuki Kurihara had 38 assists and 10 digs.

Ashley Wright (Everton, MO/Miller HS) had 15 kills and four blocks, while hitting .448. Sarah Hoffmeister (Joplin, MO/Joplin HS) had 10 kills and 11 digs, while Ashley Mehrer (Kansas CIty, MO/Winnetonka HS) had 11 kills and six blocks. Megan Norman (Stockton, MO/Stockton HS) had 21 digs.

The Lions had to come back in their second match of the day. After dropping the first two games to Arkansas Tech by the scores of 28-30 and 26-30, Southern came back winning the final three by the scores of 30-26, 30-28 and 20-18.

Hoffmeister had her best match of the season with 18 kills, 17 digs, two blocks and hit .381. Ashley Hill (Blue Springs, MO/Blue Springs HS) had 10 kills and 13 digs, while Sarah Joles (Blue Springs, MO/Blue Springs HS) had 45 assists. Mehrer and Wright added 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Mehrer had six blocks. Erin Mitchem (Spokane, MO/Spokane HS) added 19 assists, while Tessa Woods (Joplin, MO/Joplin HS) added 13 digs.

Norman added 37 digs in the match and set the Southern school record for digs in a season, surpassing the previous mark of 600 set by current teammate Amy Barnicle in 2004. Norman now has 629 on the season and is averaging 6.11 per game, another record she is well above pace to surpass this season.

The Lions will be back in action next Saturday, October 21 when they play host to a pivotal MIAA match with tenth ranked Washburn at 7 p.m. in Young Gym.