FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2007

Lions sweep 24th ranked West Florida

Box Score

Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern volleyball team came out and played strong tonight, defeating 24th ranked West Florida three games to none in a pivotal regional matchup at Young Gymnasium. Individual game scores were 30-26, 30-24, 30-26.

Southern (13-13) trailed only once in game one, and behind the strength of five team blocks, ended the game on a kill from freshman Brittany Vavao-Huggins.

UWF (23-3) had won 14 matches in a row coming into tonight. The Lions limited the Lady Argos to just a .109 attack average in game one.

The Lions hit .333 in game two and despite West Florida hitting .286, never trailed en route to the 30-24 win. The game was tied once at 1-1 and again at 6-6, but Southern led from that point on.

Game three was much closer with West Florida jumping out to a 4-2 lead, but the Lions tied it at four, and again at six, seven, eight, and ten, before the Lady Argos took a 14-11 lead on a kill from Jamie Nichols. The game would be tied another nine times and the lead would change on seven occurrences, before the Lions went on a 4-0 run to end the match.

Ashley Wright had ten kills and two blocks, hitting .316 in the match. Sarah Hoffmeister had 12 kills and six digs, to go with two aces and two blocks. Sarah Joles had 38 assists, eight digs and two blocks on the night.

Southern will now get back in to MIAA play next Friday when the Lions play host to 21st ranked Emporia State at 7 pm in Young Gym.