MARYVILLE, Mo. - Senior Hailey Crane reached the  1,000 career dig milestone in Missouri Western's (12-4, 3-2 MIAA) back-and-forth five-set loss at Northwest Missouri State (9-6, 3-2 MIAA) on Tuesday night.

The Griffons had difficulty finding an offensive rhythm in the opening set, as Northwest took an early lead and reached the 20-point mark first. Northwest ultimately won the set 25-20 with 16 kills and four blocks.
 
Western evened the match in a back-and-forth second set that consisted of 15 ties and seven lead changes. Down late in the set, a block from Lily Kurz sparked a 7-2 run, which included five kills from Taylor Russell that helped propel them to the 25-22 set victory. Russell concluded the night with a match-leading 22 kills. 
 
After the two teams exchanged momentum shifts in the early portion of the third set, the Griffons kicked it into another gear, leading by as many as six in the 25-21 set final. Noelle Sutcliffe helped add a spark to the offense with six kills, including back-to-back points to finish the set.
 
The Bearcats kept the match alive with a 25-20 victory in the fourth, which consisted of 10 ties and eight lead changes. They then took the final set 15-10 to seal the match. The Griffons will return home to the MWSU Fieldhouse this Friday at 6:00 p.m. for 'Pink Night.' It will be their first meeting as MIAA opponents against Arkansas-Fort Smith. Pre-match coverage will begin at 5:45 p.m. and will be aired on the MIAA Network, the Varsity Network App, and GoGriffons.com/listen.