SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The Montana Tech volleyball team won its opening set Saturday but eventually fell to No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan, 16-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17, in the final pool-play match of the NAIA National Tournament.

Outside hitter Kinnidi Willmore led the Oredigger offense with a team-best 12 kills, and the junior added five blocks and four digs to her tally. Middle hitter Alexis Umland had a tremendous final match of her Montana Tech career, hitting .318 with eight kills and a pair of blocks. Libero Jelena Jablanov totaled a team-best 21 digs, setter Rhys Layton totaled 33 assists and two aces, and middle Olivia LaBeau finished with six kills and five blocks.

The Orediggers (20-12) started the match hot, hitting .379 as a team in the opening set. Willmore had four kills to lead the way to the early 25-16 victory.

IWU regained its footing in the second and jumped out to a 15-8 lead before cruising to tie the match at a set apiece.

The Wildcats (34-2) also led big early in the third, but Montana Tech rallied to cut the lead to 18-16. Indiana Wesleyan finished the set on a 7-1 run, though, and took control of the match.

In the fourth, IWU again jumped out to an early lead with a 6-0 run. Tech responded with a 9-2 run of its own to hop on top, but the lead didn't last. The lead changed four times through the middle points before the Wildcats put together another run, this one an 11-2 barrage that ended the match.

The Orediggers, who took the No. 15 seed into the national tournament, finish their postseason run with a 1-2 record in championship play. It was Montana Tech's fourth-consecutive NAIA championship appearance and the ninth in program history.

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