The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team fell twice on Friday at the Carr Racop Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas Fort Smith.

– Libero Olivia Nowakowski was credited with 47 digs, setting a Northwest single-match record against Arkansas Fort Smith. The previous high was 46 by Paige Spangenberg against Fort Hays State on Oct. 24, 2008.

– The Bearcats opened the day with a loss to West Florida and then dropped a hard fought five-set match to host Arkansas Fort Smith in the evening session.

– Northwest is now 5-6 on the season.

– The match was played at the Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith, Ark.

Match One Key Statistics (West Florida 3, Northwest 1)
– The Bearcats fell in the first set, 25-21, but rebounded to take the second set, 27-15. West Florida took a critical extra-point third set, 28-26, and went on to close out the match with a 25-15 fourth set win.

– Maddy Bruder had 13 kills against the Argonauts with 11 digs and two blocks.

– Sarah Dannettell had 21 assists with 13 digs, three kills and a pair of service aces.

– Maddy Ahrens added 15 assists with four digs.

– Nowakowski had 20 digs with two service aces.

– Gaby da Silva added 14 digs with a service aces.

Match One Key Sequence
– In the second set, Northwest tailed held a 24-23 lead but a pair of West Florida points gave the Argonauts an opportunity to go up two sets. After a Bearcat timeout, Northwest got back-to-back kills from Dannettell and Bruder to take a 26-25 lead. On the next point, a West Florida attacking error gave the Bearcats the second set win and evened the match at one set a piece.
Match Two Key Statistics (Arkansas Fort Smith 3, Northwest 2)

– Northwest dropped the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-21. But the Bearcats responded to win set three (25-21) and set four (28-26). UAFS won the fifth set, 15-8.

– In Northwest’s third and fourth set wins, the team hit .312 and .357, respectively.

– Bruder had 17 kills to lead Northwest. She added 11 digs and a service ace.

– Darcy Sunderman had 14 kills with 15 digs and a pair of blocks.

– Morgan Lewis had 11 kills with five blocks and a dig.

– Sofia Schleppenbach had 10 kills with three digs, three blocks and an assist.

– Dannettell added 31 assists with 13 digs, three service aces and a pair of kills.

– Ahrens had 23 assists with four digs.

– Along with her school record 47 digs, Nowakowski also added three assists.

Match Two Key Sequences
– In the third set, Northwest got a kill from Lewis and the Lions committed an attacking error to give the Bearcats set point at 24-18. But three-straight UAFS points forced a Northwest timeout at 24-21. Out of the break, Schleppenbach put away the winning point to give the Bearcats the third set.

– Northwest evened the match at two sets a piece with a win in the fourth. Trailing 24-23, the Bearcats got back-to-back blocks to take set point. But UAFS would come back to tie the match. The two teams would trade points until a Bruder kill gave Northwest a 27-26 lead. On the next point, Sunderman put away a kill of an assist from Dannettell to give the Bearcat the 28-26 set.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will conclude play at the Carr Racop Invitational on Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. match against Henderson State.

— Northwest Athletics —