Fighting an uphill battle the Northwest Missouri State volleyball team gave 6th-ranked Central Missouri all they could handle Wednesday night before falling 3-1 in MIAA action.

Northwest saw its three-game winning streak end as they fell to 14-14 on the season and 8-7 in the MIAA. The Jennies improved to 21-4 overall and 13-1 in league play and still sit tied at the top of the conference.

From the opening serve the Bearcats gave UCM all they could manage before falling 25-22, 17-25, 28-26, 25-18. It was a back-and-forth battle in the first three sets that saw the Bearcats steal the second set before dropping an exciting third set that witnessed 14 ties and five different lead changes.

Sophomores Brooke Bartosh and Abby Graves each finished with 12 kills to pace Northwest as the Bearcats held UCM to a .168 hitting percentage.

However, the Jennies got seven blocks as a team and had three players finish with double figure kills to take the win.

Senior Tori Beckman continued her amazing season as she finished with 36 digs in the loss. In her last five games Beckman has tallied 153 digs as she continues to lead the conference and put up amazing numbers on the defensive side of the net.

Julia Bates recorded a double-double for the Jennies with 37 assists and 10 digs to pace UCM.

The Bearcats take the weekend off before facing their second top 10 next Tuesday when they travel to 4th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. First serve from Kearney is set for 4 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —