The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team fell to No. 5 ranked Nebraska-Kearney, 3-1, on Friday at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.
– Northwest falls to 16-14 on the year and 10-7 in MIAA play with the loss. The Lopers move to 30-2 overall and 16-1 in conference play.
– Maddy Bruder had a match-high 17 kills to go along with 13 digs and two blocks.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats came out strong and won the first set, 25-18. But Nebraska-Kearney took the next three by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-17.
– UNK hit .220 for the match and were forced into 18 attacking errors.
– Olivia Nowakowski had a match-high 23 digs with one assist.
– Morgan Lewis hit .44 with 14 kills and just two attacking errors. She had three total blocks and a dig.
– Sofia Schleppenbach added five blocks and three digs defensively. She had nine kills and a service ace.
– Gaby da Silva had 14 digs and Megan Stilmock added 12 digs.
– Sarah Dannettell had 27 assists with a pair of digs.
– Maddy Ahrens had 26 assists with six digs.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Northwest was tied with UNK, 14-14, in the first set before pulling away for the early lead. A bad Loper set and a block by Schleppenbach and Sidney gave the Bearcats a 15-14 lead. Scheppenbach and Sidney added back-to-back kills to force a UNK timeout. After Nebraska-Kearney got a point back, Northwest went on a 3-0 run to take a 20-15 lead behind a pair of Schleppenbach kills and one from Sidney. The Lopers got another point back but the Bearcats responded with a 4-0 run. Sidney and Darcy Sunderman had kills and Schleppenbach added a service ace. After a kill by Lewis, it was set point for Northwest, 24-16. After two UNK points, Sunderman ended the set with a kill from Ahrens.

Up Next
– Northwest will conclude the 2017 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 11, against Fort Hays State at 3 p.m. in Bearcat Arena. The team will honor Dannettell, Sunderman, da Silva and Taylor Linenberger as part of Senior Day prior to the match.

— Northwest Athletics —