WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The No. 18-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies hung on for a 3-2 victory over the No. 12-ranked Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team Wednesday night at the Multipurpose Building on the UCM campus.
 
UCM won by set scores of 25-19, 25-14, 10-25, 20-25 and 15-10. UCM improves to 4-4 on the year, while Northwest drops to 6-3 overall.
 
UCM scored a 25-19 win in the opening set. The Jennies built a 9-4 lead before Northwest took its first timeout of the set. The Bearcats leveled the set at 11-11 forcing a UCM timeout. After a 12-12 tie, UCM hit Northwest with a 5-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. UCM hit .405 in the first set with 18 kills. Northwest hit .268 with 14 kills.
 
UCM kept the pressure on Northwest in the second set by scoring 12 of the first 14 points. The Jennies raced out to an 18-5 lead. Northwest used an 8-3 run to cut the UCM lead to 21-13 and forced a Jennies timeout. UCM stemmed the tide and closed out the set, 25-14. The Jennies hit .351 in the second with 15 kills and two errors. Northwest hit .200 with 11 kills and four errors.
 
Northwest put up a strong performance early in the third set by bouncing out to a 14-3 lead. Northwest won 20 of the first 24 points of the set to take a commanding 20-4 advantage.  UCM led 2-1 before Northwest tallied a 13-1 spurt. Olivia Dir accounted for six of the kills during the 13-1 run. Kelly Wiedemann notched five second-set kills to boost the Bearcat offense. Northwest took the set, 25-10.
 
Central Missouri put up a 12-7 lead in the fourth set. Northwest used a 7-1 run to take a 14-13 advantage midway through the fourth set. After a 15-15 tie, Northwest scored five straight points to take a 20-15 lead. Avery Kemp and Jaden Ferguson each provided a pair of kills as Northwest gained some breathing room in the fourth. Northwest evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 win in the fourth.
 
The fifth and decisive set was deadlocked at 7-7 before UCM used runs of 3-0 and 6-1 to take a 13-8 lead. Northwest closed to within 13-10 only to see the Jennies take the set, 15-10.
 
Northwest had four players reach double figures in kills. Kelly Wiedemann, Olivia Dir and Jaden Ferguson each notched 14 kills, while Avery Kemp added 11. Dir was credited with her second career double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs. Fergusona also secured her second career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.
 
Kristen Ford posted 23 digs. Alyssa Rezac earned 47 assists running the offense.
 
Northwest is 0-6 all-time in five-set matches against Central Missouri. Northwest has lost seven of its last eight matches contested against the Jennies. UCM holds a 104-12-1 mark against Northwest in the all-time series between the two programs.
 
The Bearcats will look to bounce back Friday at home against the Missouri Western Griffons. Northwest and Missouri Western will square off in Bearcat Arena at 6 p.m. Fans are encouraged to purchase their $5 tickets in advance on the Bearcat ticket page.