Box Score | Season Stats

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- With arguably the loudest crowd of the season supporting them, the SBU Bearcats came within four points of upsetting a nationally ranked opponent in the final home game of the year. #17 Emporia State hung on to claim the match, however, by a score of 22-25, 25-12, 25-12, 21-25, 15-11.

The Bearcats looked poised for the upset from the opening game, hanging with the Hornets throughout the set. SBU collected 15 kills and hit for a .314 average. The 'Cats didn't actually take the lead in the set until Caitlyn Muder's service ace gave SBU a 19-18 edge. Emporia answered back but then the Bearcats took the next four points on a pair of kills and a pair of Hornet errors for the 23-19 lead. Again Emporia pulled back, highlighted by a pair of kills from ESU's Brittany Miller, but a service error gave SBU their 25th point and the win.

Seemingly a different team came out for SBU in the second and third sets. After hitting so well in the opener, the Bearcats hit for a combined -.209, and had 24 errors between the two games. Emporia pulled away in the middle of each set and took both by scores of 25-12.

That's when the Bearcats answered back. A quick four-point run served up by Ashley Jurgensmeyer gave SBU an early 4-1 lead and forced Emporia to burn one of their timeouts. The 'Cats didn't lose the momentum, however, and took five of the next seven to build up a 9-3 lead, as the Hornets needed a break again. Emporia did make a game of it, going 9-6 over the next 15 points, to make it a 15-13 SBU lead. The Hornets wouldn't get that close again for the rest of the set, and Kylie Heim clinched the win with her fifth kill of the set, 25-21.

In the fifth game, Emporia got out to a big lead early for the first time of the night, going on a five-point run and jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first-to-15 set. Needing to go at least 12-5 to stay alive, senior Joanna Granzow stepped up with a big pair of kills, and along with Iceley Perry's service ace, SBU inched back to 10-5. The two sides exchanged serves to make the score 12-6, when Jurgensmeyer and Muder teamed up for back-to-back kills to get back within four, at 12-8. The pair went back-to-back again and narrowed the lead to 13-10, but Emporia finally shut the door with two of the next three kills, taking the set 15-11.

Jurgensmeyer, SBU's all-time leader in kills, added 15 to her total tonight, giving her 1,124 over three seasons. Granzow and Heim also reached double figures, with 12 and 13 kills, respectively. Senior libero Marcy Greenwade, who reached the 1,000 digs mark last week, had a match-high 23. Fellow senior Brianna Wallace collected 44 assists in her final match at the Meyer Sports Center, giving her 3,840 for her career, just 66 shy of the school record.

With the loss, SBU falls to 10-20 on the year, and 5-13 in the MIAA. The Bearcats will have two more chances for a school-record sixth conference victory, as they travel to Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State on Friday and Saturday, November 12-13, in the final two matches of the season. The 'Cats will face off against Missouri Southern at 7 p.m., and the Gorillas on Saturday at 2 p.m.