Volleyball team makes use of new Libero system
By Kristen Smith

Staff Writer

Lady Lions volleyball continued its season on Sept. 18 at home as the women faced Southern rival Pittsburg State University.

The Lady Lions won the first two games, but fell behind as PSU won the third game. The fourth game remained close until Southern fell, 29-28, and PSU scored and tied the match. Southern pulled through in the end and won the fifth game 15-9, giving Southern a win of 3-2.

 When we got down, we pulled ourselves out of it and came together as a team,  said Amy Little, senior.  We are proud of our win. 

Little ended the match with 22 kills and 17 defensive digs.

The women face PSU again on Oct. 9 in Pittsburg.

"Our defense will be better,  said Shannon Schultz, senior.  We will go in more focused. 

The women anticipated a big crowd from PSU, but were not intimidated.

Cindy Fleming, a freshman playing for Southern this year, received good play time at the Sept. 18 match.

 Cindy came in when we needed her and produced well,  Schultz said.

Little agreed and said Fleming had great serves and digs and played well.

Freshman Jeri Rinehart said the team has close relationships on and off the court.

"Whether it s hanging out or just caring about each other s lives outside of volleyball and school, it is beneficial to us as a team to help and comfort each other," Rinehart said. "That's something that is hard to find in teams."

A new rotation system called a Libero is being used in college volleyball. This system allows one player on the team to play during the entire game, except when serving. Schultz represents Southern in this position for the season.

Women's volleyball played its 11th game of the season Sept. 13 when the Lady Lions traveled to Kirksville to challenge Truman State University.

The women lost 3-0, which put the team at 5-6 for the season.

"Truman is a ball-control team," Schultz said. "They forced us to make the mistakes."

She said the team started off strong in the beginning of the match but couldn't finish in the end. The team is looking forward to playing Truman at home on Nov. 1.

"We are working hard to correct the mistakes, and it will be a much better game," Schultz said.

This weekend the team travels to Maryville to play Northwest Missouri State University and then on to St. Joseph to face Missouri Western.

Andy Tevis/The Chart

The Lady Lions congratulate each other after a scored point during the first match of Wednesday night's game against Pitt State at Leggett & Platt Gymnasium.