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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern volleyball team picked up a pair of wins in the opening day of the 2009 Missouri Southern Invitational, defeating Midwestern State, 3-1 and Missouri S&T, 3-2. Southern (2-0) took its first match of the day winning by the scores of 25-22, 20-25, 26-24 and 25-11. Trailing 16-10 in the first set against Midwestern State, Southern called a time out and responded, scoring nine out of the next ten points and took a 19-17 lead, before forcing a MSU timeout. A kill from Brittany Vavao-Huggins closed out the set. The second set was all MSU as the Mustangs and Lions were tied just once at two apiece, and Midwestern led from that point on. The third set featured seven ties and five lead changes before two kills from Vavao-Huggins and another from Jeanna Feldman closed out the set. The fifth set was all Southern. The Lions opened up a 14-2 lead that saw Midwestern use both timeouts and Stefanie Williams serve 12 straight points. Southern led 23-9 at one point in the set and a kill from Renee Rheinecker closed out the match. Feldman had 21 kills and seven digs, while Vavao-Huggins hit .407 with 13 kills. Elin Skei had 48 assists and 11 digs, while Kari Hammerbacher added a match-high 18 digs. In the Lions' match with Missouri S&T, both teams traded sets before the Lions took control in the fifth set. Individual set scores were 16-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-15 and 15-11. The Lions came out in the fifth set and took an 8-4 lead at the turn after a kill from Feldman. The Miners fought back and cut the lead to 11-8, as well as 13-10, but the Lions scored two of the next three points to win the match. Feldman again led the Lions with 18 kills. Vavao-Huggins hit .296 and added 15 kills, while Rheinecker had 10 kills of her own. Skei dished out 48 assists, while Hammerbacher had 16 digs. Williams and Ali Boehler had 11 digs, apiece. Southern will finish out the Invitational tomorrow with a match at 10 am against Southeastern Oklahoma State and the finale against Harding at 4 pm. |