The Northwest Missouri State volleyball saw its season come to an end Tuesday night at the hands of the 8th-ranked Central Missouri Jennies, falling 3-1 in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

The Bearcats end their season at 15-17 on the year as they entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed. UCM advances to play the winner of Washburn-Fort Hays State in the second round.

Northwest entered the match ready for a battle and took the Jennies by surprise in the early going before falling 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-16.

As Northwest was able to hang with UCM in the first set, the Bearcats hit a solid .312 as a team; however the Jennies blistered from the attack on the offense hitting .538 holding off the Bearcats.

Northwest would continue to play solid as they took the second set, but the Jennies proved to be just a step ahead in a nearly flawless match.

Abby Graves recorded 13 kills and freshman Dallas Gardner closed out an outstanding rookie season with her 10th double-double of the season. Gardner finished with 13 digs and 28 assists in the loss.

Senior Tori Beckman closed out a stellar career as she ended the night with 24 digs. She closes her career with 1,488 digs putting her in fourth place all-time at Northwest in just three seasons. Her 716 digs this season also set a single season record at Northwest passing Paige Spangenberg’s mark (701) set in 2009.

— NWMSU Sports Information —