PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback against the Pittsburg State Gorillas Saturday night to close out MIAA regular season play.
The Gorillas won by set scores of 25-11, 25-11 and 25-13. Pitt State moved to 22-8 overall and 7-5 in MIAA play. Northwest dropped to 9-16 overall and 6-6 in league matches.
Abby Bulthuis led Northwest with eight kills and added two block assists.
Mya Karrick finished with 11 assists, nine digs, two kills and one service ace.
Ellery Luhring collected a team-high 11 digs and added four assists.
Maddie Roenfeld recorded five total blocks and added three kills.
Northwest opened the first set with three straight points on a Pittsburg St. attack error, a
Mya Karrick service ace and a
Gabrielle Gartner kill, but Pittsburg St. answered and eventually pulled away for a 25-11 set. After Pittsburg St. moved ahead 4-3,
Maddie Roenfeld's kill from Karrick tied the set at 4-4, and Gartner added another kill to keep Northwest within 7-5.
Abby Bulthuis supplied two kills during the middle stretch, one from Karrick and one from
Londyn Smith, before
Elle Heckenlively added a kill to make it 16-8. Northwest added a late point on a block by Roenfeld and Gartner, but Pittsburg St. closed the set with the final two points.
Northwest could not keep pace in the second set, as Pittsburg St. stretched a 14-8 score to 18-8 and went on to take the set 25-11. Earlier,
Maddie Roenfeld put Northwest on the board with a kill from Karrick, then joined
Jada Smith on a block before
Abby Bulthuis' kill from Karrick pulled Northwest within 4-3. Karrick added a kill from
Lily Zimmerman, and Heckenlively supplied three middle-set kills off assists from
Londyn Smith as Northwest continued to answer individual swings from Pittsburg St. After
Jada Smith's kill and a Roenfeld-Bulthuis block made it 18-10, Pittsburg St. closed the set by scoring seven of the final eight points.
Northwest started the third set with an early push, getting kills from
Gabrielle Gartner, Karrick and Bulthuis to build a 5-2 lead. Pittsburg St. answered with five straight points to move in front 7-5, but Northwest responded with a Gartner kill and Bulthuis kill to tie the set at 7-7. From there, Pittsburg St. created separation as Northwest committed several attack and setting errors, with the home side moving ahead 15-8 and then 20-9. Northwest added late points on a Roenfeld-
Jada Smith block, a
Jada Smith kill and a Bulthuis-Roenfeld block, but Pittsburg St. finished the set 25-13.
The Bearcats will be the No. 7 seed for the 2026 MIAA Volleyball Tournament set for Nov. 12-14 at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo. The complete bracket will be released later tonight at the conclusion of the MIAA regular season.
