ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Missouri Western Volleyball rounded out its season on Thursday afternoon with a loss to No. 12 Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA Tournament, 3-0, at the Civic Arena.
The loss marks the end of the season for the No. 7-seeded Griffons (11-18, 8-12 MIAA). The Griffons gave the No. 2-seeded Lopers (27-4, 16-4 MIAA) a close contest, as Missouri Western played UNK close in all three sets.
SET 1
UNK 25, MWSU 18
The Griffons hung with the Lopers for the majority of the set, but an 8-3 run starting at the 6-5 mark saw UNK take a three-point lead that the Griffons could never quite dig into. Missouri Western finished the set with 13 kills on 42 attempts.
SET 2
UNK 25, MWSU 22
The closest of the three sets, the Griffons looked primed to take a set of the Lopers early with a 6-1 run that gave them a 13-10 lead. Nebraska-Kearney answered with their own big run later, rattling off five points in a row to take a 22-19 lead.
SET 3
UNK 25, MWSU 19
Missouri Western jumped out to a lead early, taking an 11-7 lead at one point. The Lopers hit the accelerator though, tying the set at 16 before scoring the last five points to finish off the match and advance to the next round.
NOTABLES
SEASON RECAP
The Griffons finish the season in seventh place in the MIAA, qualifying for the MIAA tournament for the eighth season in a row (excluding 2014 and 2020 when the tournament didn't take place). The Griffons played 10 ranked teams, taking eight sets throughout the year against them.
The signature win of the year came on Senior Day, as the Griffons knocked off No. 17 Washburn to secure the seventh seed in the MIAA tournament.
