BOLIVAR, Mo. - The William Jewell volleyball team opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Friday evening on the road at Southwest Baptist. The Cardinals took the first two sets before SBU rallied to win the next three and take the match, 3-2. Jewell drops to 7-6 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jewell fell into an early 5-1 hole before outscoring the Bearcats 16-11 to open up a four point advantage. SBU would get as close as 18-15 but but two kills from Jordan Collard and one from Bella LaPorta shut the door on the first set, 25-19.
• The Cardinals carried the momentum into the second set, leading 17-12 after a setting error from SBU. Jewell finished on a 8-2 run behind two kills from LaPorta to win 25-15. 
• The Bearcats opened the third set looking like a team trying to hold off a sweep and jumping out to a 16-7 lead. Jewell didn't go quietly though, going on a 9-5 run to pull within 24-22 but a kill from Janel Pido ended the set in favor of the Bearcats. 
• The early part of set four was a battle within neither team able to grab a significant advantage. Tied at 16, SBU used a 6-2 run to open up a 22-18 lead. Jewell got back within two but the Bearcats closed it out to force the fifth set. 
• After being gifted a 4-1 lead thanks to three SBU errors, the Cardinals fell into an 11-5 hole and couldn't recover, falling 15-9. 

KEY STATS

• LaPorta led the Cardinals with 17 kills to go with 14 digs and four blocks.
• Hannah Cope picked up a career high 20 digs and two assist. 
• Dvorak posted 10 kills and a match high six blocks while Tatum Ernt had four. 
• Haidan Baade finished with 20 digs as Samantha Thompson had a team best 24 assists. 

UP NEXT
Jewell returns home for the second half of the split weekend to host Drury at 3 p.m.