LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell volleyball team closed the 2023 season in style on Friday night with a five set win over No. 23 ranked Rockhurst University. The Cardinals finish the year at 12-17 overall and 4-9 in conference play. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rockhurst jumped out to an early 11-4 lead in the opening set but the Cardinals rallied late with a 4-0 run to close the gap to 20-18. The Hawks finished on a 5-2 spurt to win 25-20. 
• Trailing 7-5 in the second set, Jewell went on an 8-3 run to go on top 13-10. Rockhurst rallied to take a 23-22 lead but kills by Katy Garrison and Anna Godfredsen gave the Cards the 27-25 win. 
• The Hawks again broke out to an early lead and rolled to an 24-18 win. 
• With the Cardinals trailing 8-6 early in set four, Alexis Nunn and Hannah Cope's serve combined to help Jewell roll off 11 points to go in front 17-10. Jewell continued to roll as a Hannah Cope ace ended the set, 25-16, to force the finale. 
• Both teams went back-and-forth in the early going of set five. Tied at 13, Jewell got a kill from Maliyah Johnson to give the Cardinals match point but the set was far from over. Eleven match points and 10 ties later, the Cardinals got a kill from Godfredsen and a block from she and Garrison ended the match, 26-24. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Johnson led the Cardinals with 17 kills while Alex Dvorak had 16 and Godfredsen added 14. 
• Bella LaPorta led the defense with 25 digs with Alexis Nunn digging up 18 and Johnson 17. 
• Freshman Jesa Wallace set the NCAA era record with 59 assists with Dvorak posting 11 blocks.