– The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team defeated Central Missouri, 3-1, on Friday at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.
– Northwest improves to 14-11 on the year and 8-5 in MIAA play. The No. 16 ranked Jennies fall to 20-6 overall and 10-3 in conference action.
– Maddy Bruder had a match-high 21 kills, hitting .327 for the match. She added 13 digs, two blocks and a two assists in the victory.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats took the first set, 25-21, but dropped the second, 25-19. Northwest took the lead in the third set with a 25-19 win and closed out the match with a 25-21 set four victory.
– Northwest hit .270 for the match, hitting .375 in the first set.
– The Bearcats had eight service aces and nine blocks.
– Hallie Sidney hit .500 with 15 kills and no attacking errors. The freshman added four digs and a block.
– Olivia Nowakowski added 26 digs with a six assists and a pair of service aces.
– Sofia Schleppenbach had six block assists and a solo block. She added four digs, three kills and had a pair of service aces.
– Maddy Ahrens had 24 assists with six digs and three service aces.
– Sarah Dannettell had 21 assists with six digs, five kills and three blocks.
– Katelyn McKinnis had six digs defensively and added a service ace.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Tied, 19-19, in the first set, Northwest rallied to score six of the next eight points to take an early 1-0 set lead. Bruder had back-to-back kills to give the Bearcats a 21-19 lead. A service error pulled the Jennies back to within one, 21-20, but Schleppenbach came up with a kill and UCM missed on an attack, making it a 23-20 Northwest advantage, forcing a timeout. UCM would get another kill to make it 23-21, but a service error gave the Bearcats set point and Sidney put away a kill to give Northwest the set.

– UCM pushed hard for a fifth set, taking a 20-19 lead late in the fourth off a kill form Audrey Fisher. But Northwest responded by tying the match with a kill from Morgan Lewis. The Jennies came up with another kill to take a 21-20 lead but that would be the last point UCM would score in the match. Bruder put away a kill and Nowakowski added a service ace to make it 22-21 Northwest. After a Jennie timeout, Bruder recorded back-to-back kills to give the Bearcats match point, forcing UCM’s second timeout. The Jennies hit into a block from Bruder and Schleppenbach to end the match.

Up Next
– Northwest will host Lindenwood on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.

— Northwest Athletics —