The William Jewell volleyball team hosted Emporia State University Tuesday night for their final non-conference tune up prior to the start of Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Cardinals dropped to 4-5 overall after falling in four sets 17-25, 19-25, 30-28, 18-25.

Jewell played evenly with the Hornets for the majority of the first three sets with the first two slipping through their grasp over the final points. In set four Emporia burst out to an 18-11 lead before the Cardinals made things interesting near the end.

Raechel Meisinger and Kelsey Wagner each posted double-doubles of kills and blocks. Meisinger  totaled 14 and 13 while Wagner had 12 and 10 respectively. Olivia Tolberd put in a team-high 19 digs while Alix Weigel added 37 assists, 12 digs, and four blocks.

In her first action of 2015, Paige Cunningham grabbed four kills, five digs, and four blocks while fellow freshman Emily Burton also chipped in eight kills.

Despite playing nearly even with the Hornets,  the combination of Emma Benton and Shayla Cotman proved to be too much. Benton led Emporia with 17 kills and 17 digs while Cotman posted seven kills and six blocks.

Up next, the Cardinals will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend by hosting Bellarmine University on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. followed by Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.