MARYVILLE, Missouri – The No. 11-ranked Central Missouri Jennies scored a 3-1 decision over the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat volleyball squad in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament. UCM won by set scores of 25-15, 25-17, 24-26, 25-17.

When the final results were tallied, the Jennies posted their second win over the Bearcats this season.

UCM (25-6 overall) used a huge performance from Kylie Hohlen, who posted 16 kills and 33 digs. Hohlen gave the Jennies an early surge with seven kills in the first set.

Northwest (22-8 overall) saw senior Maddy Bruder notch 20 kills to lead the Bearcats. Bruder belted seven kills in 17 attacks in the second set without an error.

Senior Olivia Nowakowski secured 32 digs on the defensive side of the net. Nowakowski was credited with 12 digs in the third and 10 digs in the fourth.

The Jennies enjoyed a .244 hitting percentage with 61 kills and 17 errors in the match, while the Bearcats hit .109 with 55 kills and 33 errors.

UCM quieted a raucous white-out crowd in Bearcat Arena by taking a two-set lead over the home squad. Northwest refused to give in and took an 18-12 lead in the third set. However, UCM battled back to knot the set at 18-18. The Jennies scored a miraculous kick-save for a kill to even the set at 21-21. UCM would take a 24-22 lead and have two match points only to see the Bearcats even it up at 24-24 on a kill by Hallie Sidney and an attack error by UCM’s Aubree Bell. The Bearcats siezed the opportunity and Sidney put down another ball for a kill to give Northwest a set point. The Bearcats closed out the third set when Bell’s attack went awry, 26-24.

The Jennies used a decisive 7-1 run after the fourth set was even at 11-11. Northwest would get no closer than four points the rest of the way and UCM posted a 25-17 win in the fourth.

UCM advances to the semifinals to take on No. 1-seeded Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at 7 p.m. in Kearney, Neb. No. 2-seeded Washburn will take on No. 3-seeded Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —