ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Griffon Volleyball fell in the semifinal round of the MIAA Tournament to the No. 18-ranked Central Missouri Jennies 3-1 (23-25, 13-25, 25-23, 20-25) on Friday night at Civic Arena.

The Griffons (21-10) were led by Holly Heldt's 16th double-double of the season, tallying 13 kills and 18 digs on the evening. Taylor Russell also added 17 kills to help the offense. On the defensive end, Anna Weberg chipped in for Missouri Western with 15 digs to go with four blocks from Danielle Moje. Meanwhile, the No. 1-seeded Jennies improved to 23-7 this season and will play No. 3 seed Nebraska Kearney in the MIAA Championship on Saturday at 6 p.m.

SET 1 | The Griffons fell in a back-and-forth first set, losing 25-23 in a game that featured three lead changes and was tied seven times. Neither team led by more than four points in the match.

SET 2 | Missouri Western then dropped set two 25-13 to fall behind in the match two sets to none. Missouri Western trailed by as many as 12 points as Central Missouri grabbed the advantage for good at 4-3 in a set that was knotted up just once before the Jennies took over the lead.

SET 3 | After dropping the first two sets, Missouri Western rallied to win the third set and make it a 2-1 match. The Griffons took the lead for good at 21-20 in a set that had just one lead change before Missouri Western took over in the second half of the stanza. The Griffons then carried that lead to a 25-23 set win.

SET 4 | Missouri Western couldn't build off the set-three victory and lost in set four 25-20 to drop the match. The Griffons trailed by as many as nine points as Central Missouri grabbed the advantage for good at 5-4 and Missouri Western was never able to recover in a set that was knotted up just once before the Jennies took over the lead.

GAME NOTES

• Missouri Western had four players in double figures in digs.
• Heldt had a team-high one ace in the loss.
• Russell had a match-high 17 kills for Missouri Western.
• Missouri Western got a team-high 18 digs from Heldt.
• Missouri Western attackers were helped by a team-high 45 assists from Nessa Johnson.
• With 11 digs, Johnson ends the season with 19 double-doubles in 31 matches.
• With 21 victories this season, this is MWSU's best season since going 25-11 in 2017.