Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium is in its 32nd season as home of the Lions volleyball team. The 1,700-seat facility was built in 1968 and opened in time for Missouri Southern's inaugural year of play on the senior-college level. Young Gymnasium became the home of the Lions when women's athletics was instituted at Missouri Southern in 1974. Since joining the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) in 1989, the Lions have posted a 102-70 record at home, good for a .593 winning percentage. They posted a perfect 12-0 record at home in 1995, and since 1984 have accumulated a 169-85 home mark for a .665 winning percentage. The first sport to utilize Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium was men's basketball, on December 9, 1968. That night, the Lions dropped a 62-55 decision to Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University). All totaled, the Lions volleyball team and the MSSU men's and women's basketball teams have called Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium home for 909 athletic contests, in which they have posted a combined 611-298 record, a winning percentage of .672. With the construction of the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center adjacent to Young Gymnasium, Young Gym is now used solely by the Lions volleyball team and Missouri Southern's intramural athletics program. Renovation of the floor took place during the 1999-2000 school year, giving Missouri Southern one the premier home volleyball courts in the nation. Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium also serves as the site of various high school camps and tournaments each year.