The Griffon News

The Missouri Western volleyball team will need to provide their best “Rocky Balboa” impression in their upcoming conference games, as they will be underdogs in most of their upcoming contests.

The MIAA conference is loaded with talented and experienced teams. The conference bolsters four teams in the top 25. The Griffons will welcome two of those teams to St. Joseph for home contests. Head coach Tiffani Mastin knows the conference is stacked with quality teams.

“The conference was strong last year and it has only gotten better this season,” Mastin said. “Everyone is going to beat up on each other.”

The Griffons will first welcome the Emporia State University Hornets on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. ESU is ranked 14th in the nation and have an impressive 10-1 record. The Griffons will also celebrate their younger fans with Youth Night. The Hornets are led by junior Arica Shepard, she has 133 kills on the young season.

They will then turn right around and face the Washburn Lady Blues at 2 p.m. on Sept. 20, who are a perfect 11-0 on the season and ranked third in the nation. The Lady Blues are led by senior Monica Miesner and freshman Mollie Lacy, who have 118 and 79 kills respectively. Coach Mastin knows the Griffons will have to play at a high level to have success in the upcoming games.

“We need to play consistent and have a couple girls step up and become playmakers for us,” Mastin said.
The Griffons are coming off a successful road trip, as they went 2-2 at the Tarleton State University Tournament. They fell to Midwestern State University and Tarleton State University, 3-0 in both contests. They managed to beat Central Oklahoma and Texas Women’s University, in dramatic fashion, winning 3-2 in both contests.  Sophomore Kelli Sicner knows it was huge for the Griffons to play well heading into conference play.

“We needed to get some wins before conference play, those victories really helped boost our confidence,” Sicner said.

The Griffons are young, but are getting key play from those young players.  The Griffons are lead in kills by Sophomore Meghan Voelz, as she has 112. They are lead in assists by freshman Lindsay Rosenhagen, as she has 22. They have also gotten big play from Sicner, freshman Alexandra Behnke and many more underclassmen.

“We are consistently playing underclassmen and are starting to get over the hump,” Mastin said.
The Griffons have been led mainly by underclassmen. Sophomore Meghan Voelz, who currently leads the team with 112 kills. Sicner is second on the team with 88 kills. Junior Madison Benton is first on the team with 179 assists. The team of mainly underclassmen are looking to prove people wrong and have success in the MIAA.

The Griffons are currently tied for last in the conference in wins with three, but are only two wins away from being in the middle of the pack. They are currently the youngest team in the MIAA.
The Griffons will have all their home games at Looney Complex on the Missouri Western campus. The Griffons also have one more tournament left this season, as they will compete in the Washburn Regional Crossover Tournament.