ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 7-seeded Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team ended its season with a five-set loss by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 12-15 in the NCAA Central Region quarterfinals to No. 2 seed Central Oklahoma on Thursday.

SMSU ends the season 23-6 overall. UCO moves to 31-2 on the year and will advance to the region semifinals against the No. 6 seed Washburn on Friday.

Four Mustang attackers registered double digits in kills in the loss. Leah Jones led the Mustangs with 17 kills and a career-high 26 digs for a double-double in the match. Saari Kuehl followed with 16 kills and three blocks, while Ashley Peltier recorded 15 kills and four blocks. Emma VanHeel rounded out the attacking unit with 11 kills on .281 hitting and five digs.

Sydney Thein supported the attack with 54 assists and a pair of kills while helping defensively with 20 digs for a double-double.

McKenzie Tolk poured in a career-high 35 digs to lead the SMSU to a season-high 125 digs. Mya Krystosek followed with 16 digs, while Kennedy Drake added 11.

The first two points of the match were traded evenly before UCO went on a 5-1 run to lead 7-3 early. SMSU countered the run with one of its own, scoring five of the next six points to tie the set 8-8. The teams would battle to a 12-11 score in favor of UCO until the Bronchos kept their foot on the gas to take a five-point lead at 16-11. The Mustangs tied the set at 21-21 but ultimately fell short in the first game 25-22.

Set two began similarly to the first set, with the first six points being traded this time. This time UCO pursued a 6-3 run to take an 8-5 lead before SMSU fought back by scoring the next four points, taking its first lead of the match at 10-9.

In the next part of the set, the teams battled to four tie scores until the score settled at 20-20. SMSU would go on to take five of the following six points to claim the second set and tie the match 1-1.

The third set was arguably the most competitive of the first three with neither team building more than a four-point advantage. UCO moved to a 12-9 lead to begin the set before SMSU rattled off the three points to tie the game at 12-12. UCo took five of the next seven points to increase the margin by three points heading into an SMSU timeout. Saari Kuehl would smack down a kill out of the timeout, but the Bronchos refused to let up, grabbing the next three points to increase the lead to 20-15 and force another SMSU timeout. 

The Mustangs would get the momentum to swing in their favor with a 6-1 run before exploding at the end of the set and taking the game 25-23.

The fourth set saw UCO regain its confidence. SMSU moved to a 10-9 to start until UCO used four-straight kills to push the score to 13-10. SMSU used a kill from VanHeel and Bronchos attacking error to tie the game at 15-15 until UCO took over and jumped to a 23-16 lead. 

The Mustangs would try their hardest to come back but the deficit was too large to overcome. UCO won set four 25-18.

The fifth set opened with a battle as SMSU kept it close until a score of 5-4 in favor of UCO. The Bronchos recorded the next three points to hold the advantage at the switching of sides.

SMSU came out swinging after the switch, rattling off seven of the next eight points to take an 11-9 lead. However, the Bronchos would not let up easily, taking the next five points to reach the match point at 14-11. SMSU would earn its 12th point but the comeback stalled there, as UCO took the match 3-2.

The quarterfinal match was the last for SMSU's two seniors, Saari Kuehl and Emma VanHeel.