#3 Lopers Pull Off Epic Comeback in St. Joe, 3-2

 Sophomore Brynn Stowell had 26 kills, five off the school record, and No. 3 Nebraska Kearney had epic comebacks in the first and fourth sets to rally past Missouri Western State in five (-30, 22-25, 22-25, -25, -13) Friday night in St. Joseph.

The Lopers (16-0, 3-0) remain unbeaten and have now taken 25 of the last 27 meetings with the Griffons (9-5, 1-2). The two meet again in November in the regular season finale.

Mo West was coming off a 4-set win at seventh-ranked Washburn last Saturday and had the Lopers dead to rights in the first and fourth sets. However, UNK rallied on both occasions and then held off the Griffs in the fifth to record an improbable win.

Stowell (Olathe, Kan.) carried the offense all night, to the tune of 26 kills in 44 swings with just three errors (.523 pct.). All-American middle Jeri Walkowiak holds the Loper record for kills in a match with 31 in a 5-set win at Regis in 2010. On the night, UNK outhit MWSU by 28 points, had two more kills, five more blocks, 11 more digs and took advantage of 16 service errors.

In set one, the Lopers trailed 23-18 and 24-22 but fought off four set points for an improbable comeback. Back-to-back kills from graduate outside Carly Purdy (North Platte) finished off Mo West with a late service miscue benefiting the Lopers.

However, the Griffs responded by taking the next two sets by three points each. In the fourth, they jumped out to a 15-8 lead and forced UNK to call timeout. It then was 23-20 before UNK rose up gain, reaching set point on an unforced attack error. The squads went back and forth before UNK used another error and a block from middle Sydney Davis (Dannebrog) and Purdy to close things out.

It was then Mo West's turn to rally as they trailed 5-1 in the fifth but made it 11-9 after a Loper attack error. While UNK never trailed in the set, the Griffs didn't go away with a long rally fittingly resulting in a Stowell kill. That made it 15-13.  

Purdy (14) and Lane (10) also reached double digits in kills with junior libero Ellie Spang (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) at 27 digs). At the net, Kansas senior middle Abby Rose had six block assists with Davis at nine total blocks. Finally, South Dakota sophomore Lizzy Spah came off the bench to have three kills and three blocks in two sets.

Mo West was led by Emma Salker (18 kills, six digs, six blocks, .378 pct.), Emily Loy (12 kills) and libero Lia Graham (27 digs).

UNK heads to Northwest Missouri State on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats were swept by Fort Hays State tonight.