By David Boyce
MARYVILLE, Mo. – In a five-set thriller that took nearly 2 ½ hours to complete, the Northwest Missouri State volleyball team came up just a couple points shy of knocking off No. 15 Washburn Friday evening at Bearcat Arena.
When senior Miranda Foster’s kill attempt landed just outside the inbound line, the match ended with Northwest falling 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13.
“That is always a disappointing moment,” said Foster, who finished with 19 kills. “But I think overall, we really fought. It doesn’t come down to that one point. It comes down to stringing more points together. I thought we did really well fighting. We left a lot of heart out there.”
The loss dropped the No. 17 Bearcats to 18-2 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA. Washburn improved to 18-4 and 8-1 and remains in first place.
Despite the outcome, there was nothing heartbreaking for the Bearcats. They fought from behind throughout the evening, pushing one of the perennial powers in the MIAA to make clutch plays in the final set.
“I think what we can take away from this match is how hard we fought,” said junior Sarah Dannettell, who had a match-high 57 assists. “Obviously, fighting that hard and not getting the win is tough. Our coach always says that if you leave everything on the court and you don’t get the result you want, that is all you can do.
“Our team can walk away from this game and say we left it all out on the court. It happens it didn’t fall in our favor tonight.”
Beyond any doubt, Northwest proved it can play with the very best in the MIAA. Now the Bearcats turn their attention to Emporia State. Northwest will face the Hornets at 6 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Arena.
“I think tomorrow is going to be a battle,” Northwest coach Amy Woerth said. “Emporia is a good team. They went five with Washburn. They have good middles. It is going to come down to serve and pass and offensive performance. I just want our girls to continue to give the effort they gave tonight.”
The first two sets Friday night dripped with edge-of-your-seat drama. The matched opened with Washburn scoring the first two points. It would be the biggest lead by either team in the entire first set.
“I knew it was going to be a battle,” Woerth said. “I kept emphasizing we got to go win this battle. Anytime you have Washburn in your gym, they are not going to go down without a fight.”
Northwest went ahead 14-13 on a kill by Foster. The Bearcats held the lead until Wasburn pushed back in front 19-18. With the set tied at 21-21, Washburn scored the next points and that would prove to be the difference.
The second set was the exact opposite with a couple of wild swings in momentum. Northwest opened an early 6-2 lead and then watched Washburn score the next four points.
Leading 9-8, the Bearcats took command of the set, scoring seven of the next 10 points for a 16-11 lead. Seemingly in control, the Bearcats lost their rhythm. Washburn scored nine of the next 10 points for a 20-17 lead.
Northwest was on the brink of falling behind two sets to none when Bruder and Foster came up with big shots to help the Bearcats close to 20-19. Most importantly, the points changed momentum.
The Bearcats tied the match at 21-21 on a kill by Bruder, who finished with a team-high 28 kills. Northwest went ahead 22-21 on a kill by Foster and increased the lead to 23-21 on a block by Foster. Leading 24-23, Northwest won the next set point on a block by Dannettell and Alexis Williams.
“Going down 0-2 is never an ideal situation in a match,” Dannettell said. “Honestly, in my perspective, I think winning the second set is almost more important than winning the first set. That is how the rest of the game is going to look like. It was nice going out and fighting hard for the second game.”
Northwest played from behind most of the third set and when the deficit slipped to 18-14, it was a bit too much for the Bearcats to overcome. Still, Northwest kept battling and even tied the set at 23-23 on a nice serve by Olivia Nowakowski that Washburn was unable to return. The Ichabods buckled down and won the next two points and took a 2-1 lead.
Undaunted by being down a set again, Northwest calmly executed in the fourth set despite an early 11-8 deficit. The Bearcats moved ahead 15-14 on a kill by junior Taylor Linenberger. Northwest quickly increased its lead to 18-14 and used that cushion to take the fourth set 25-22.
“We knew we would contend with them,” Foster said. “It is always encouraging to know that we were that close. They are a very good team. We are going to keep working hard and those will fall in the end.”
— Northwest Athletics —
