WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team dropped its first road match of the season as the No. 2-ranked Central Missouri Jennies held off the Bearcats in five sets in the UCM Multipurpose Building.
 
UCM won by set scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-27, 15-9. UCM extended its win streak to 10 in a row, while Northwest saw its streak of 11 consecutive victories come to an end. Northwest is 18-3 overall and 11-2 in MIAA play. UCM is 20-2 overall and 13-1 in league play.
 
Northwest posted 77 kills to only 57 for UCM. However, UCM tallied 19 blocks to make up a large percentage of the kill differential. Northwest managed five team blocks in the match. UCM had 18 attack errors, while Northwest had 34 attack errors.
 
Northwest turned the opening set around after falling behind by five points. UCM was awarded a point at 21-16, but it was overturned after a review requested by Bearcat head coach Amy Woerth. Northwest used the momentum to take a 21-20 advantage. UCM recovered and was able to eke out a 25-22 triumph with a 5-1 run to end the set. UCM took advantage of four block assists in the set, while Northwest did not record a block. Northwest out-hit UCM in the opening set .286 to .270.
 
UCM jumped out to a seven-point lead at 13-6 in the second set. The Bearcats closed to within two at 15-13 after a 7-2 run. The Bearcats continued to pound away and took a 20-18 after a 4-0 spurt that was keyed by back-to-back blocks from Abby Brunssen and Payton Kirchhoefer. UCM head coach Flip Piontek challenged a touch call but the review upheld the call to give Northwest a 23-21 advantage. The Bearcats closed out the second set on the strength of two late kills from Kelsey Havel, 25-22. Central Missouri hit .159 with 13 kills and six errors in the set. Northwest hit .239 with 16 kills and five errors.
 
The Jennies used a heavy block attack in the third to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 victory. UCM collected eight blocks in the set. As a result, Northwest hit .077 with 14 kills and 11 attack errors. UCM hit .154 with only eight kills and four errors.
 
Northwest built a 10-7 advantage to begin the fourth set. A pair of kills from Havel forced UCM's Piontek to burn one of his fourth-set timeouts. UCM surged back on top at 13-12 on the strength of three straight service aces by Sydney Lierz. The Bearcats bounced to take a 17-15 lead only to see the Jennies answer back with a 4-0 run to take a 19-17 lead. Northwest leveled the set at 21-21 on kills from Jaden Ferguson and Havel. Back-to-back kills from Rachel Sturdevant pushed the Bearcats into a 23-22 advantage causing Piontek to take his final timeout of the set. Havel put down a kill to give Northwest two set points at 24-22. The Jennies wiped away the two set points and knotted the set at 24-24. The Bearcats challenged an out call and were awarded the point and the set after the call was reversed for a 27-25 victory which forced a fifth set.
 
Northwest looked good early in the fifth and deciding set by leaping out to a 5-2 lead. UCM answered back with a 10-2 run to take a commanding 12-7 lead. The Bearcats could only manage two more points in the fifth and the Jennies took the set, 15-9.
 
The Bearcats will return home to take on Fort Hays State (Friday, 6 p.m.) and No. 15-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (Saturday, 6 p.m.) in Bearcat Arena. 
 
NOTES: Kelsey Havel recorded her ninth double-double with 22 kills and 23 digs … Payton Kirchhoefer posted a match-high 23 kills … Alyssa Rezac recorded a match-high 63 assists … Northwest is now 8-1 on the road and 14-2 in road/neutral matches this season … it's the first five-set loss for the Bearcats after they had won their previous four matches that went the distance this season … Northwest is 7-2 when dropping the first set … Northwest is 0-5 all-time in five-set matches against UCM.