TAMPA, Florida – The No. 17-ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat volleyball team pulled out an impressive five-set win at No. 5-ranked Tampa University Saturday in the 2021 Courtyard by Marriott Classic.
 
Northwest fended off six match points in the fifth set and rallied for a 25-23, 19-25, 25-14, 16-25 and 17-15 victory.
 
The opening set featured four ties and three lead changes as Northwest tallied a 25-23 victory. Tampa built a 10-5 lead before Northwest used a 7-0 run to take a 12-12 lead. Tampa responded with a 6-1 run to force a Bearcat timeout with the Spartans holding a 16-13 lead. A 3-0 spurt by the Bearcats evened the set at 20-20. Northwest retook the lead at 22-21 on a kill from Payton Kirchhoefer. Abby Brunssen came up with a kill to give the Bearcats a 23-21 cushion. Kirchhoefer and Brunssen then each produced a kill to close out the 25-23 triumph. Northwest outhit Tampa in the set, .312-.222.
 
Tampa jumped all over Northwest early with a 10-1 start to the second set. Northwest battled back to within four points on two occasions, but could not overcome the slow start. The Spartans tallied a 25-19 win in the second. Tampa hit .225, while Northwest hit .100 in the third.
 
Northwest seized control of the pivotal third set with a 5-0 run to take a 7-2 lead. The Bearcats extended their lead to eight at 15-7. Tampa scored the next two points to pull within six, but that would be as close as the set would get. The Bearcats got defensive in the set as they held the Spartans to a negative hitting percentage (-.068) as a result of eight kills and 11 attack errors from the home squad. Northwest capped the set with a 25-14 victory.
 
Tampa pulled even with a 25-16 win in the fourth set. Tampa trailed 11-8, but regrouped to out-score Northwest the rest of the way, 17-5. Tampa hit .323 with 11 kills and one attack error in the fourth. Northwest was held to a .167 hitting percentage with 13 kills and seven attack errors.
 
The Spartans pounced early in the fifth and took a 3-0 lead. The Spartans took a 10-4 advantage and looked to be closing out the Bearcats. But the Bearcats refused to give in and rallied for an improbable road triumph. Tampa took a commanding 14-8 advantage only to see Northwest roar back from the precipice of defeat. Northwest scored six in a row to knot the set at 14-14. Tampa scored its final point of the match to take a 15-14 lead and head coach Amy Woerth took the final timeout of the match.
 
Following Woerth's timeout, the Bearcats ran off three straight points to claim the victory. Northwest took a 16-15 lead when Olivia Dir and Avery Kemp teamed up to block Tampa All-America performer Katie McKiel. Kemp delivered the match-winning kill to give the Bearcats the win.
 
Alyssa Rezac notched her third career double-double with a pair of career-highs in assists (48) and digs (24).
 
Jaden Ferguson delivered a career-high seven blocks to go along with a season-high 12 kills. Payton Kirchhoefer came up with a team-high 14 kills.
 
Olivia Dir produced a career-high 12 digs, while posting eight kills.
 
Kristen Ford was credited with a career-high 12 digs.
 
NOTES: Northwest has won the opening set in all four matches this season … Northwest will be back in action next weekend in Springfield, Ill., taking on Grand Valley State (Friday, 10 a.m.), Michigan Tech (Friday, 4 p.m.), Purdue University-Northwest (Saturday, 10 a.m.) and Upper Iowa (Saturday, 4 p.m.).