Photo by Samantha Davis. The Southwest Minnesota State University team huddles together during a timeout in the third set against Central Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud. SMSU fell in fives sets, and ends its season 23-6 overall.

ST. CLOUD — After earning a bid into the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history and second straight season, the No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team fell to No. 2 University of Central Oklahoma in a five set heartbreaker in scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 12-15 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud.

“There is nothing to be disappointed about,” sophomore Leah Jones said. “It is so hard in our conference making it into the regional, so being here is super fun.”

The match went through 31 total tied scores. After dropping the first set, SMSU had strong momentum going through the rest of the match and fought resiliently, but came up just short in the final two sets. Overall, the Mustangs finished with a .204 hitting percentage to the Broncho’s .180.

Jones led SMSU with 17 kills and 26 digs, followed by Saari Kuehl with 16 kills and Ashley Peltier with another 15. McKenzie Tolk finished with a career and game-high 35 digs, and Sydney Thein had 54 assists with 20 digs.

“It was a fun game. Obviously, it’s not how we wanted it to end, but it could have flipped either way,” Jones said. “I’m just really proud of how our team played.”

With the season on the line and both teams fighting for a spot in semifinals, most of the match was a game of fighting back on small deficits and staying within a few points, and in several cases, went point-for-point.

“I thought both teams played really hard. It was fun to get to be a part of that,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy said. “If you look at the box score, we won a lot of those categories. But, it didn’t work out in our favor. I was proud of how our group handled themselves.”

The Mustangs earned the seventh seed into the tournament last week for the Central Region, joining two other Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams in No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul and first-seeded St. Cloud State, who won the NSIC this season and earned the right to host the NCAA regional by virtue of the top seed.

Thursday was also just the second meeting between SMSU and UCO. The one time they faced one another was 22 years ago on Sept. 4, 2022, at a tournament in Florida in which the Bronchos earned a 3-0 win.

“That part is unique. We don’t have a lot to go off of, which was fun, being able to do that versus play somebody in our conference,” Boddy said. “This felt like a true, regional match.”

UCO came into the match 30-2 overall on a 10-match win streak after claiming the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference tournament. The program also ranks fifth nationally in kills per set and eighth in assists per set.

SMSU came in with a 23-5 record, ranking fourth in the nation in assists per set, eighth in kills per set and a conference leading digs per set. It most recently fell in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals with a 3-1 loss to Northern State.

The first set defined the tone of the match early on, going down to the wire. SMSU fought back from small deficits on a few occasions.

Peltier got the day’s first point with a kill before the Bronchos jumped to a 6-2 lead with three straight kills and a service ace.

SMSU tied it up at 7 with points from another Peltier kill, a block by VanHeel and Thein, and a Jones kill to halt the Broncho’s short run.

The next few minutes of the set went point for point, until UCO went on a 4-0 run to build a 16-11 advantage before Boddy called a timeout.

Emma VanHeel began to heat up for SMSU out of the reset with three kills, and one from Karli Arkell cut into a 19-15 trail.

VanHeel finished with 11 kills, while Arkell logged seven on the day.

“I just think our team never quits, and that’s been fun to be a part of this whole year,” Boddy said. “We would be down 4 or 5 points in the game … They work to compete and come back, and we did that.”

Kuehl and Arkell kills with a block from Kuehl earned the Mustangs three straight points, which cut UCO’s lead to 20-18.

A UCO attacking error brought the score within a single point, and a Mya Krystosek service ace tied it up at 21.

However at match point for the Bronchos at 24-22, UCO took the first set with a kill.

SMSU held a slight .152 hitting percentage over OCU’s .143. Both teams were nearly even in all other aspects, including both with seven attacking errors and 14 points from kills.

There were 10 tied scores in the second set alone, amping up the competition even more.

“There was so much energy on our team. I think it was our defense that was giving us energy,” Jones said. “But, also blocking in the front row. I thought we were doing a really good job.”

With a tied score 9-9, SMSU took its first lead of the day on a Broncho attacking error.

UCO began to struggle with errors, and the Mustangs built a 3-point edge at 15-12 with a kill from Jones and a pair of Broncho mistakes.

The Bronchos tied it up at 15 with two kills and a service ace, but Boddy successfully challenged an OCU point for a Mustangs 16-15 slight lead.

After UCO tied it up at 20-20, kills from Peltier and another one from Jones brought SMSU to a 23-20 lead.

At set point after another Peltier kill, SMSU put the set away on a service ace from Tolk.

SMSU had a .209 hitting percentage and limited OCU to just .089.

The third set was much like the first, where the Mustangs were attempting to climb back from falling behind.

Down 20-15, SMSU went on a 6-1 run to tie the set up at 21 behind a kill each from Kuehl and Jones, and four OCU attacking errors, one of which was blocked by VanHeel and Jones.

The Mustangs took the third set in riveting fashion following another pair of kills from Jones and one from VanHeel to take the 2-1 match lead.

Following the third set, Kuehl, VanHeel and Jones each had 10 kills.

In the fourth set where SMSU was trying to complete the upset and OCU was looking to force a fifth, the Mustangs grabbed an early 8-5 lead following a few kills from Jones and Kuehl.

The Bronchos tied it up at nine, finding its rhythm back at the front of the net.

SMSU found itself down 22-17, as the Bronchos continued to be effective with kills and from the service line.

The match went to a fifth set after UCO served another ace and hit two kills.

With 15 more points and a ticket to the semifinals on the line, the fifth was nothing short of an intensely thrilling set.

“It [the fifth set] was really exciting. It was taking it point for point,” Jones said. “Not trying to think too far ahead, not trying to dwell on what happened in the fourth set.”

SMSU found itself down 9-5, however the team has been overcoming comebacks nearly the entire match.

Two kills from Kuehl, one from Peltier and a UCO attacking error brought the Mustangs quickly up to nine to tie the set up.

The Mustang fans were out of their seats as the St. Cloud gym erupted as SMSU took an 11-9 lead following a Bronchos bad set with a Peltier kill.

“Fifth games are always interesting,” Boddy said. “We were down 8-4 at one point and the next time, we were up by two.”

A handful of timeouts took place through the final few points.

UCO took a 2-point edge back at 13-11 following a kill and Mustangs’ attacking error.

After a hard fought battle by both teams in all sets, the Bronchos got their match point following a kill.

Several fans and staff members from both sides and the game following could be seen congratulating the SMSU team with uplifting remarks.

SMSU ends its season 23-6 overall, and went 14-4 in conference play. It graduates seniors Kuehl and VanHeel.

“We are so thankful for them,” Jones said. “They were great leaders this whole year. Last spring, they were great leaders and they kind of formed this team.”

Both VanHeel and Kuehl leave the program feeling prideful.

“It’s really cool, I think, seeing myself freshman year to now, and the leader I’ve become and how much I have grown,” VanHeel said. “It’s been cool having people to lean on throughout the four years I have been here.”

Kuehl acknowledged the work the two have put in.

“It just starts freshman year, putting in the work every day at practice and getting better whenever you have the chance too,” Kuehl said.

Kuehl finishes as SMSU’s leader in kills with 338 on the season, followed by Jones with 326 and VanHeel with 318. Thein led the way with 1,294 set assists, Krystosek had 39 aces, Tolk led with 605 digs and VanHeel had a season high of 118 blocks.

“It’s hard to be disappointed. If anything, I’m just sad because it’s been fun to coach them [the team],” Boddy, who also thanks the community for their support, said. “Shadowing our seniors, they showed the rest of them what our program is all about.”