FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 11, 2005
 

Four Lions on All-MIAA Volleyball Team

Four members of the Missouri Southern State University volleyball team earned mention on the All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Volleyball Team as selected by the league's coaches.

Juniors Ashley Mehrer (Kansas City, Mo./Winnetonka) and Megan Norman (Stockton, Mo./NE Oklahoma A&M) along with sophomore Sarah Hoffmeister (Joplin, Mo.) and freshman Sarah Joles (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs South) were each chosen for honorable mention status on the team announced Thursday (Nov. 10).

Mehrer, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, led the Lions this season with 370 kills, a .307 hitting percentage, 107 total blocks and 431.5 points. En route to honorable mention All-MIAA accolades for the second time in as many years, she finished the regular season ranked sixth in the conference in hitting percentage.

Mehrer now ranks seventh on the Missouri Southern career list for total blocks (240) and is tied for fourth in career block assists (192). Her 91 block assists this season was the fourth-most in school single-season history.

Norman, who transferred this year to MSSU from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, led the Lions with 581 digs, the third-most in Southern single-season history. She finished fifth in the MIAA with 4.80 digs per game. The 5-foot-5 Norman had 13 matches this year with 20 or more digs, including two career-high 30-dig matches.

Hoffmeister emerged this year as one of Missouri Southern's top hitters, averaging 3.45 points and 2.98 kills per game, and also finished second on the team with 408 digs (3.58 per game). What's more, the 5-foot-8 local product got her share of opportunities; her 1283 attack attempts this season was the third most in school history.

Joles, a 5-foot-8 setter, recorded 1328 assists (10.80 per game), eighth on the MSSU single-season list, in her rookie season. Joles also led the Lions with 44 service aces (0.36 per game), and finished fifth in the MIAA in both assists and aces, while ranking third on the team with 0.45 blocks per game.

Missouri Southern finished the 2005 campaign with an 11-22 overall record in coach Chris Willis' second year at the helm. All of the key components this season are expected back in 2006, as the Lions' roster this year featured six freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors and no seniors.
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