EMPORIA, Kan. - No. 10 Griffon Volleyball (22-4, 10-2 MIAA) closed out the 2026 regular season with a four-set victory over No. 12 Emporia State (24-4, 9-3 MIAA) on Saturday evening at W. L. White Auditorium.
MoWest defeated the nationally ranked Hornets by set scores of 25-23, 25-17, 23-25 and 25-17 to finish the regular season with 22 wins, including 10 in conference play.
The Griffons opened the match strong, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage in the first set. Emporia State responded with a run to take an 11-9 lead, but MoWest battled back in a tightly contested opening frame. With the score tied at 19, three consecutive kills from Taylor Russell helped the Griffons take a 22-19 lead. Noelle Sutcliffe eventually sealed the 25-23 set victory with a kill.
In the second set, MoWest broke a 10-10 tie with three consecutive points and eventually extended the advantage to 16-12. The Griffons continued to pull away, scoring the final four points to take the set 25-17 and build a 2-0 match lead.
Emporia State responded in the third set, building an early 8-3 advantage before extending its lead to 20-16. MoWest fought back late, cutting the deficit to 24-23 behind kills from Holly Heldt and Sutcliffe, but the Hornets secured the final point to take the set 25-23.
The Griffons answered in the fourth set, hitting .325 with 16 kills to close out the match with a 25-17 victory.
Sutcliffe led MoWest offensively with a team-high 16 kills while hitting .300. Heldt and Tanith Roush each added 13 kills, with Heldt also collecting 18 digs and a service ace.
Mackenzie Peters delivered an efficient performance with six kills on 11 attempts without an attack error, finishing with a .545 hitting percentage. She also recorded three service aces and seven block assists. Brooklyn Gormley added six kills while hitting .455 and contributed five block assists.
Defensively, Anna Weberg led the Griffons with 22 digs, while Katelyn Diani-O'Day added 17. Diani-O'Day also recorded a team-high 23 assists, followed by Emma Duff with 20.
MoWest finished the match hitting .256 with 61 kills, 95 digs, six service aces and 12 total team blocks. The Griffons held No. 12 Emporia State to a .150 hitting percentage and 52 kills.
What's Next
MoWest will be the No. 2 seed in the 2026 MIAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 12-14 at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.
