Kearney, Neb. - The 5th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball returns to Bolivar, Mo., on Friday afternoon to face the Southwest Baptist Bearcats and the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers.

The Lopers stay on the road to face the winless Missouri Southern State Lions Saturday at 6:30 p.m.  Earlier in October, UNK participated in the SBU Crossover Tournament, playing four matches in two days.

The SBU match begins Friday at 1:00 p.m. with UNK staying on the court to face UAH at four. Live stats for both matches are available HERE. Live stats for MSSU can be found HERE.

The SBU Bearcats (8-16, 1-9) lost at Central Oklahoma Tuesday night, 3-0, to suffer its third straight setback.

Averaging 11 kills and 1.23 aces per set, the 'Cats ae led by 6-2 junior middle Jordan Nedbalek (2.13) and senior middle/outside Carrie Johnson (2.11). Nedbalek also comes in with a team-best 1.08 blocks per set.

Finally, freshman Kaitlyn Allison is at a team-best 4.20 dps. 

A member of the Gulf South Conference, UAH (10-12) comes to Missouri having lost five of six. The Chargers currently sit in seventh place in the GSC with a 4-6 league mark. No. 23 West Florida (14-6) is the only nationally-ranked team in the Gulf South.

A balanced attack is led by 5-10 junior middle Angela Thurmond, averaging a solid 3.47 kills per set while hitting .333. She ranks second in the GSC in kills and first in attack percentage.

Running a 6-2, UAH averages 12.65 digs per set with no player over 2.96.  At the net, 5-10 senior outside Kelsey Williams leads at 0.64 blocks per set.

Southern (0-21, 0-9) hasn't won a match since October 26, 2011, a 3-2 decision over Pitt State. They have dropped 28 in a row, coming closest on Oct. 6 with a five set loss to Henderson State (Ark.)

Katie Politte paces Southern at 2.75 kills and 2.31 digs per set. The Lions host Fort Hays State on Friday.

On the UNK side of the court, the Lopers lead the MIAA in kills (14.39), assists (13.28) and digs (20.54) per set while holding opponents to league low .112 hitting percentage.

Individually, senior setter Jenna Rouzee ranks first in assists (10.75) with junior Ariel Krolikowski third in kills (3.43) and senior DS Kaleigh Anderson third in digs (4.96). The Lopers also have four of the top 10 hitters by attack percentage, paced by junior middle Katie Sokolowski at .357.

Kearney has three home matches next week as Hays visits Tuesday (Oct. 23rd) and then UCO (Friday) and Pitt (Saturday) drop by the Health & Sports Center.