Volleyball Recap: Ava Payne's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Southland over Grand Meadow

Southland lost against Grand Meadow back in September and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Rebels fell just short of the Superlarks by a score of 3-2. While the Rebels didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Superlarks 25-21 in the first set.

Southland wouldn't go down easily and took Grand Meadow into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking five-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16, 15-10.

Southland lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Ava Payne, who had 33 digs and two aces. Payne is crushing it when it comes to digs: she's had at least ten every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Lauren Sorgatz, who had 28 assists and 16 digs.

This is the second loss in a row for Southland and nudges their season record down to 9-6. As for Grand Meadow, the win was the 17th in a row for them, bringing their record up to 19-1.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Southland is set to challenge their familiar foe Spring Grove at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, Grand Meadow will take on rival Mabel-Canton at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.