Northwest Missouri State Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team recorded the nation's sixth-best dig performance with 125 in a five-set Senior Night triumph over the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest won by set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25 and 15-9. The Northwest win clinches a berth into the 2026 MIAA Tournament set for Nov. 12-14 at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo. The Bearcats are 9-14 overall and 6-4 in MIAA play. UAFS is 17-13 overall and 2-8 in league matches.

Junior Ellery Luhring collected a career-high 39 digs to rank tied for the sixth-most match total in program history.

Northwest's 125 digs are the most by a team in the MIAA this season. The 125 digs rank as the sixth-most by an NCAA Div. II program this season.

NCAA Div. II Most Digs Match - 2026 Season 
1. 136, Shorter vs. Emmanuel (9/9/26)
2. 134, East Central vs. Henderson State (10/9/26)
3. 132, Emmanuel vs. Shorter (9/9/26)
4. 128, Henderson State vs. East Central (10/9/26)
5. 127, Cal Poly Pomona vs. Cal State LA (10/3/26)
6. 125, Northwest Missouri State vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith (10/31/26)

In the opening set, Northwest pushed the score to 22-22 late behind repeated swings from Maddie Roenfeld, but Ark.-Fort Smith scored the final three points to take the set 25-22. Earlier, Sophia Gartner and Roenfeld opened the scoring with kills from Mya Karrick, and Lily Zimmerman and Ellery Luhring each added service aces as the Bearcats built a 10-6 advantage. Ark.-Fort Smith answered to move ahead 14-11, but Northwest worked back with kills from Roenfeld, Chloee Hayes, Abby Bulthuis and Elle Heckenlively, tying the set at 18-18 and going in front 19-18 on an attack error. Roenfeld put the Bearcats back ahead 22-21 with another Karrick-assisted kill before Ark.-Fort Smith closed the set.

In the second set, Northwest answered a 14-13 deficit by moving in front 18-15, with Bulthuis tying the set, Hayes adding back-to-back kills, Hayes contributing a block and Sophia Gartner finishing the stretch with a kill. Earlier, the Bearcats opened with kills from Roenfeld and Gabrielle Gartner and stayed ahead through much of the first half as Karrick and Londyn Smith helped set multiple attackers. Ark.-Fort Smith pushed back to tie the set at 10-10 and later moved ahead 14-13 before Northwest responded. After reaching 18-15, the Bearcats kept separation with a Sophia Gartner kill, a Roenfeld kill and Bulthuis' set-ending kill to close out a 25-19 win.

The Bearcats broke open the third set by turning a 10-8 lead into an 18-8 advantage, with Lauren Schnettler serving seven straight points during the stretch. Earlier, Northwest answered an Ark.-Fort Smith move to 6-5 with five consecutive points, getting kills from Gabrielle Gartner, Heckenlively and Bulthuis, along with two Ark.-Fort Smith errors, to move ahead 10-6. Schnettler's ace started the larger run after Heckenlively's sideout kill, and Northwest added two Sophia Gartner-Hayes blocks, a Sophia Gartner kill and a Hayes kill while Ark.-Fort Smith committed multiple attack errors. The Bearcats pushed the set to 24-12 behind three Sophia Gartner kills in a four-point span, then closed the 25-16 set win on another Gartner kill after Ark.-Fort Smith scored four straight late points.

In the fourth set, Northwest erased a 13-8 deficit with six straight points, moving in front 14-13 after kills from Sophia Gartner and a block by Gabrielle Gartner and Roenfeld helped drive the run. Earlier, the Bearcats had fallen behind 10-3 before Hayes delivered consecutive kills and Heckenlively added another to begin trimming the margin. After Ark.-Fort Smith tied the set at 14-14, Northwest answered with another Sophia Gartner kill and later pulled even at 17-17 and 18-18 on kills from Roenfeld, Gabrielle Gartner and Hayes. Ark.-Fort Smith then scored five straight points from an 18-18 tie, and although Bulthuis, Hayes and Sophia Gartner added late kills, the Bearcats dropped the set 25-21.

In the fifth set, the Bearcats turned a 6-5 edge into a 13-6 lead by winning seven of the next eight rallies, then closed out a 15-9 set win. Earlier, after Ark.-Fort Smith scored the first point, Roenfeld answered with a kill from Karrick, and Northwest added a Sophia Gartner kill and a Sophia Gartner-Roenfeld block to move ahead 4-1. Ark.-Fort Smith came back to tie the set at 5-5, but Luhring served two aces during the next Bearcats surge, which also included a Hayes-Gabrielle Gartner block, a Gabrielle Gartner kill and two Hayes kills. Ark.-Fort Smith trimmed the margin to 13-9, but Bulthuis stopped the run with a kill from Smith before Sophia Gartner finished the set with another Smith-assisted kill.

The Bearcats will close out the MIAA regular season next weekend with road matches against Emporia State and Pittsburg State.

NOTES: Sophia Gartner landed 21 kills to reach 20-plus kills for the second time this season ... Maddie Roenfeld notched a career-best 12 kills and hit .355 ... Chloee Hayes posted a career-high 13 kills and hit .367 ... Lily Zimmerman registered a career-high 19 digs ... Lauren Schnettler garnered a career-high 17 digs ... Mya Karrick put up her team-high 15th double-double with 32 assists and 13 digs.

Most Digs, All Matches

1. Kyah Luhring vs. Missouri Western - 10/8/24 2. Olivia Nowakowski at Ark.-Fort Smith - 9/15/17 3. Paige Spangenberg vs. Fort Hays State - 10/24/08 4. Hannah Koechl vs. Nebraska-Kearney - 11/22/19 5. Olivia Nowakowski at Nebraska-Kearney - 11/3/18 6. Ellery Luhring vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith - 10/31/26     Paige Spangenberg vs. Tarleton State - 10/02/09 8. Tori Beckman vs Pittsburg State - 10/14/12      Hannah Koechl vs. Grand Valley State - 9/10/21      Kyah Luhring vs Nebraska-Kearney - 11/15/24

54 47 46 42 40 39 39 38 38 38

Most Digs, Five-Set Match

1. Kyah Luhring vs. Missouri Western - 10/8/24 2. Olivia Nowakowski at Arkansas Fort-Smith - 9/15/17 3. Paige Spangenberg vs. Fort Hays State - 10/24/08 4. Olivia Nowakowski at Nebraska-Kearney - 11/3/18 5. Paige Spangenberg vs. Tarleton State - 10/02/09      Ellery Luhring vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith - 10/31/26 7. Tori Beckman vs Pittsburg State - 10/14/12 8. Hannah Koechl vs Grand Valley State - 9/10/21     Kyah Luhring vs Nebraska-Kearney - 11/15/24 10. Paige Spangenberg vs. Southwest Baptist - 11/1/08     Becky Brown vs. Missouri Western - 9/22/93     Hannah Koechl vs. Washburn - 10/15/21     Kristen Ford at Missouri Southern - 10/17/23

54 47 46 40 39 39 38 38 38 37 37 37 37

Team Digs, All Matches

1. vs. Missouri Western - 10/8/24 2. vs. Truman - 10/29/95 3. vs. Washburn - 10/28/95 4. vs. Mt. Marty - 9/10/93 5. vs. Drury - 10/28/95     vs. Washburn - 9/23/93 7. vs. Southwest Baptist - 10/31/03 8. vs. Missouri Western - 9/22/93 9. at Central Oklahoma - 10/9/21 10. at Nebraska-Kearney - 11/3/18      vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith - 10/31/26

143 139 136 135 131 131 130 128 127 125 125

Most Digs, Five-Set Match

1. vs. Missouri Western - 10/8/24 2. vs. Truman - 10/20/95 3. vs. Washburn - 11/1/95 4. vs. Southwest Baptist - 10/31/03 5. at Central Oklahoma - 10/9/21 6. at Nebraska-Kearney - 11/3/18      vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith - 10/31/26 7. vs. Truman - 10/8/97 8. vs. Minnesota State-Moorhead - 8/28/99     vs. Truman - 9/10/97     at Central Missouri - 11/14/15

143 139 136 130 127 125 125 119 118 118 118