WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The No. 12-ranked University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers prevailed over the No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat volleyball squad in five sets in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Division II Tournament at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
 
UNK came from two sets down to rally for the triumph. UNK won by set scores of 21-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-9 and 15-11. The Bearcats close their season at 26-6 overall.
 
UNK's Emersen Cyza registered a match-high 26 kills and hit .393. The Lopers posted 64 kills and hit .281, while Northwest hit .127 with 59 kills. UNK made 17 attack errors, while Northwest had 35 attack errors. UNK had 10 of its attack errors in the first two sets and managed to play the final three sets with a total of seven errors.
 
The Bearcats used a 9-2 run to seemingly take control of the opening set with a 15-9 lead. UNK refused to yield and battled back to level the set at 21-21. However, Northwest was able to close out the set with four straight points with kills from four different players. Avery Kemp put the Bearcats up 22-21. Jaden Ferguson thumped a kill to give Northwest a two-point advantage. Kelsey Havel put down a kill to give Northwest three set points. Rachel Sturdevant finished off the set with a kill for the 25-21 victory. Northwest enjoyed a kill advantage of 18-13 in the first set. Kemp, Ferguson and Sturdevant led the way with three kills each.
 
Northwest rallied from a seven-point deficit and tallied a 27-25 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match. UNK held a 20-13 lead when Northwest began to whittle away at the advantage. UNK owned a 23-18 lead when Kristen Ford took over from a serving standpoint. Ford rattled off three straight service aces to give Northwest a 24-23 lead. UNK re-took the lead at 25-24 only to see Northwest score the final three points and take the set. Northwest used five service aces in the second set to key the rally.
 
UNK clawed back with a 25-21 third-set win to trim the Northwest lead to 2-1. UNK had a 17-14 lead that Northwest trimmed to one at 17-16 and 19-18. However, Northwest could not level the set. Northwest committed seven attack errors, while UNK made four attack errors in the set. UNK hit .224 and Northwest hit .167.
 
The Lopers breezed in the fourth set by jumping out to an 8-1 lead on the Bearcats. UNK tallied a 25-9 win to force the fifth and deciding set between the two MIAA programs. UNK hit .600 with 15 kills and no attack errors, while Northwest had seven kills and eight attack errors for a -.030 hitting percentage.
 
The fifth set was deadlocked at 4-4 when UNK used a 3-0 mini-run to take a 7-4 lead and force a Bearcat timeout. UNK would push the lead to four at 9-5. Northwest's Jaden Ferguson and Kelsey Havel registered back-to-back kills to trim the lead to 9-7. But UNK came back with two more points and head coach Amy Woerth used her final timeout of the fifth with Northwest trailing 11-7. The Bearcats made a final push and cut the lead to 13-11. It then appeared Northwest had trimmed the lead to one, but the call was overturned and UNK took a 14-11 lead. The Lopers scored the match-clinching point on a block of Avery Kemp by Bailee Sterling and Cyza.
 
NOTES: Rachel Sturdevant led the Bearcats with 15 kills (.256) … Kelsey Havel reached 12 kills … Avery Kemp tallied 11 kills and a team-high four blocks … Alyssa Rezac registered a double-double with 44 assists and 15 digs … Hannah Koechl netted a team-high 21 digs … Kristen Ford served up a team-best four service aces.