MARSHALL, Minn. – A remarkable season for the Missouri Western volleyball team came to an end in the NCAA Central Region semifinals with the Griffons losing 3-1 to defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.

The No. 6-seeded Griffons had leads of at least four points in every set against the No. 2-seeded Golden Bears. Missouri Western led the first set 21-19, but Concordia out-scored the Griffons 6-2 to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Griffons led late in a back-and-forth second set, 22-20 and 23-22 before falling 25-22. Missouri Western dominated the third set, 25-18, out-hitting the Golden Bears .243 to .122 in the set. In the fourth, Missouri Western took a 10-6 lead before an 8-1 run gave Concordia the lead for good in the deciding set. The Griffons battled back to tie the set at 16 and again at 17, but couldn’t regain the lead.

The Griffons went toe-to-toe with a team that won the 2016 national championship, its eighth in the last 10 years. Stephanie Doak had a team-high 20 kills and hit .472, her best hitting percentage this season since hitting .625 at Southwest Baptist. Ali Tauchen finished with 11 kills, hitting .320. Shellby Taylor had 10 kills in the match. Lauren Murphy finished with 45 assists and Kayla Ruff had a match-high 22 digs.

Missouri Western ended the season 25-11, the most wins for the program since winning 25 in 1997. The Griffons advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 and won in the regional for the first time in program history. A mid-season turnaround vaulted the Griffons to their first-ever MIAA regular season championship and its 16 MIAA victories are tied for the most in program history.

— MWSU Athletics —