PITTSBURG, Kan. – The No. 13-ranked Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team remained in a first-place tie in the MIAA standings with a 3-0 road win over the Pittsburg State Gorillas on Saturday night.
 
The Bearcats won by set scores of 25-19, 25-16, 25-12. Northwest won its seventh consecutive match. The Bearcats are 19-5 overall and 13-3 in MIAA play. 

The Bearcats have defeated the Gorillas in 10 consecutive matchups. Overall, Northwest has won 16 of the last 18 times the teams have met. 

Payton Kirchhoefer hit .368 with a team-best 15 kills against the Gorillas, including an incredible 10 kills in the second set alone. Jaden Ferguson collected a team-high 18 digs to go along seven kills, three service aces and three blocks. Avery Kemp hit .345 with 11 kills and three blocks. Alyssa Rezac registered 40 assists, eight digs and a service ace. Kate Frakes led the Bearcat blockers with four.

Northwest hit .312 for the match, which included .349 in the second and .405 in the clinching third set.

Northwest will close out the regular season over the next two weekends with four home matches. Next weekend, Northwest will play host to Fort Hays State (Friday, 6 p.m.) and Nebraska-Kearney (Saturday, 3 p.m.).