Kearney, Neb. – The13th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team swept No. 5 Central Missouri (-18, -28, -22) and fell to No. 3 Tampa (26-28, 22-25, -22, -21, 11-15) Friday at the Tampa Classic in Florida.

The Lopers well challenge Grand Valley State and Northern Kentucky on Saturday; GVSU ended Concordia-St. Paul's Division II record 74-match win streak on Friday. Prior to being swept by the Lakers, the Golden Bears, two-time defending national champs, hadn't lost since August 2008.

UNK almost came back against a UT squad (1-0) that returned all six starters from an Elite Eight year ago. Down 2-0, the Lopers won sets two and led the fifth set, 5-4, before the Spartans went on a 7-2 run to open up a four point lead.

Tampa wouldn't let its lead getting smaller then two points the rest of the way and a kill from All-American outside Melissa Vanderhall (15 kills, nine digs) ended the two-hour match.

The back and forth Top 25 battle featured 48 ties and 20 lead changes. Tampa managed to take a 1-0 lead as they rallied from a 26-25 deficit in the first set. A Loper service error, combined with a UT ace and kill, were the deciding points.

UNK also had a chance to win the second set but two unforced attack errors, and another ace from Tampa, broke a 16 all tie. The Spartans didn't trail in the set again.

The Lopers managed to tie things up as they had 30 kills over the third and fourth sets.

Overall, not only did UNK out hit the home team, .247 to .215 but the Lopers also recorded more kills, 72-63, and digs, 78-77. However, Tampa recorded four more blocks, 12-8, had a plus 10 advantage in aces, 11-1, and also saw the Lopers have 11 service errors.

Senior middle Jeri Walkowiak (Grand Island) had a match-high 18 kills and hit .350 with freshman middle Ellie Pesavento (Omaha Marian) having 17 kills, five blocks and a .441 attack percentage.

On the outside, senior Kelsey Werner (Grand Island) had 15 kills with sophomore Ariel Krolikowski (Grand Island) providing 10. Finally, senior setter Cola Svec (Elkhorn) had four kills in five swings, a team-best 21 digs and 56 assists.

Against the Jennies from Central Missouri, UNK again got big performances from Walkowiak, Pesavento and Werner.

In the middle, Walkowiak had 14 kills and hit .379, Pesavento had 12 kills in 18 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage and Werner tied her career-high in kills (15).

After rolling past UCM in the first set, UNK had to rally in the next two sets to claim the win. Down 21-18, and then 28-27, in the second set, the Lopers got kills from Werner and Svec to move ahead by one.

A bad set by UCM then gave UNK a 2-0 lead in the match. In the third and final frame, the Lopers rallied from a 20-18 deficit thanks to four kills and an ace from senior lefty Setera Michaels (North Platte).