PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball squad went the distance and downed the No. 21-ranked West Florida Argonauts in the Outback Invitational, 3-2.

The Bearcats won by set scores of 25-19, 16-25, 25-16, 29-31 and 16-14. Northwest finished the Outback Invitational with a mark of 3-1 and is 4-4 on the season. West Florida is 5-3 on the year.

Northwest clinched the victory on its third match point to record its first five-set win of the season. 

Payton Kirchhoefer netted a match-high 15 kills. Abby Brunssen chipped in with 14 kills and four blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Olivia Dir registered a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. Ella Caffery narrowly missed a double-double with 27 assists and eight kills (.421 hitting percentage), as did Natalie Laiolo with 23 assists and nine digs. Kyah Luhring notched a team-high 26 digs.

The opening set featured six ties and four lead changes. Northwest closed the set on an 11-6 run for the 25-19 victory. Northwest made only one hitting error and put up 15 kills for a .500 hitting effort. Dir put down five of six swings in the opening set. 

West Florida knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 victory in the second. The Argonauts did not trail and saw only two ties in the set. The Argos hit .310 in the set with 16 kills and three errors.

Northwest used a decisive 7-0 spurt to take a 7-7 tie and turn it into a 14-7 lead. Northwest would lead by as many as 11 in the set before taking it 25-16. Northwest produced 14 kills and two errors in the set for a .353 hitting percentage. The Argos made eight errors and hit .128. 

The fourth set was a nip-and-tuck affair that included 13 ties and four lead changes. The Argos held a 13-9 lead only to see the Bearcats level the set at 15-15. Northwest had a match point at 27-26, but the Argos fought it off and eventually tallied a 31-29 win to force a fifth set. West Florida had 18 kills in the fourth, while Northwest had 14 putaways. 

The fifth set was just as close as the fourth. The fifth set featured nine ties and four lead changes. Northwest's largest lead in the set came at 10-7, but West Florida ran off four straight points to take an 11-10 advantage. Northwest gained its second match point at 14-13 before securing the win at 16-14 on an attack error by West Florida's Caiden Largent. Kirchhoefer willed the Bearcats to the win with a seven-kill, fifth-set performance.

Northwest will head to Fayette, Iowa, to take on Upper Iowa and Winona State next weekend.