THE RUNDOWN
The Lady Patriots (4-3) fought to the end to beat Missouri Southern State (5-2) Friday night. DBU swept the Lions last time they met in the Burg Center back in 2011. Freshman Bailey Hebert made her Patriot debut and helped the team to a 4-0 run in the fourth set.
 
DBU and Missouri Southern matched point for point to start the match, but the Lions were able to extend the lead to 15-12 after a couple kills and an attack error.  After a DBU timeout, the team rallied back to tie the game 17-17 with a kill by Macey Winburn. The Lions pulled forward 20-18 but it wasn't long before the Lady Patriots tied the set 21-21. DBU rallied back to take the lead with a 4-0 run to take the first set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, the Lady Patriots got off to a slow start trailing behind the Lions 3-1.  A big block from Kasey Holand led the team to a 4-3 lead over the Lions.  The Lions caught back up tying the set 5-5, matching every point the Lady Patriots posted.  The Lions kept up the momentum to post a 13-8 lead over DBU. The Lady Patriots saw four straight points to take the score to 16-12. MSSU won the second set with a 25-18 win over DBU.
 
Neither team saw much breathing room from the start of the third set.  Missouri Southern eventually pulled ahead to a 9-4 lead and kept that momentum going. The Lady Patriots closed the gap to a two-point deficit at 18-16, but the Lions pushed for a bit more breathing room to widen the lead to 21-16. It was a final kill by the Lions that took them to a 2-0 lead over the Lady Patriots. MSSU won the set 25-18.
 
The fourth set began just like the third with neither team able to gain more than a one-point lead. Freshman Bailey Hebert made her DBU debut helping the DBU to a 10-8 lead over the Lions with a huge block. The Lady Patriots pulled ahead to widen the gap 13-9 before a MSSU timeout. After the break, DBU posted a 5-0 run to lead double-digits over the Lions, 19-9. The fight wasn't over for MSSU as they rallied back to narrow the score to 20-17. A couple kills and a service ace by the Lions led the score to a one-point difference, 21-20. It wasn't enough to stop the Lady Patriots as they pushed ahead to take the fourth set, 25-21.
 
The final set was met with fire from both teams, once-again matching every point.  Freshman Bailey Hebert got her first point helping the Patriots to their biggest lead in the set, 6-4. The Lady Patriots extended their lead to 7-4 with two kills by Bailey Hebert and an error from the Lions. DBU kept that same fire and extended their lead to 12-6 ahead of a MSSU timeout.  The Tigers came back with some fight closing the gap 12-9. Three kills by the Lady Patriots gave them the win over the Tiger, 15-10.
 
KEY STORYLINES
-Alyssa Pevehouse posted 15 digs and two service aces
-Keely Hardin posted a career-high 28 digs
-Carly Earnest also posted a career-high in blocks (3)
 
HEAD COACH CATCHY KOKEL ON THE FIGHT TO THE END
"That was a hard-fought match. The couple of sets we lost we started to get timid and safe, so the challenge was just getting out here and stay aggressive. I think Keely is doing really well, she's helping us run the defense along with Alyssa are really helping our offense come alive."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
104- Total digs on the match
1^st-First time DBU played MSSU since 2011
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots will be back on the home court Saturday to meet with Colorado Christian at 1:00 p.m.