ST. PAUL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State volleyball, the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament, ended its season with a heart-breaking 3-1 loss to the No. 6 University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers on Thursday afternoon inside the Gangelhoff Center, on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul.

SMSU ends its season with a record of 23-7 overall. UNK jumps to 29-5 overall, and will play the winner of No. 2 Wayne State (Neb.) / No. 7 Minnesota Duluth.

The match marks the final appearances for Mustang seniors Alisa Bengen, Halle Jansen, and Emily Strasser.

The Lopers jumped to an early 5-2 lead over SMSU in set one. UNK fought to keep that lead as SMSU closed in making it a one-point set as the Lopers led 16-15. SMSU warded off UNK as Kusler finished the set 25-19.

UNK responded as they took off in set two with the score at 14-9. SMSU went on a 6-0 run backed by kills from Kusler and VanHeel. The Mustangs were able to piece together to make it a two-point set at 24-22 before UNK finished the set on a Mustang attacking error.

Set three was back-and-forth play up until the end of the set. With the score locked at 21-21, UNK would capitalize on two kills to take a 23-21 advantage. SMSU used two kills by Karli Arkell to push the score back to 24-23, before a kill on the other side by Asha Regier would seal the set for the Lopers.

With UNK leading the match 2-1, the Mustangs fought to stay in it, opening the set with the lead at 9-6. The Lopers rallied to bring the set to 14-14. The Mustangs pushed the score to 19-18 in favor of UNK before the Lopers exploded in response with a 5-0 run. The Mustangs were able to strike three times more, but ended up falling short 25-21.
 
The Mustang offense was supported by four players in double-digit kills. Leah Jones led the offensive unit with 13 kills on .205 hitting, and secured 12 digs with one service ace. Two players in Saari Kuehl and Emma VanHeel both added 12 kills. Kuehl swung for seven kills in the first set alone, and added six digs. VanHeel finished with a team-high six blocks and nabbed a team-high two service aces.

Brooklyn Kusler rounded out the attackers with 10 kills, adding one ace and one dig.
 
Alisa Bengen was in true form dishing 47 assists while adding a team-third 14 digs and two block assists.

SMSU closed the match hitting .166 with 59 kills and 28 errors, while UNK hit .181 with 51 kills and 21 errors.