BOLIVAR, Mo. – The SBU Bearcats defeated Missouri Southern in five sets tonight, to even their record at 11-11 on the season.

SBU (17-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 15-8) was tied with Southern in the fifth set, 6-6, when the Bearcats won 8 consecutive points to take a commanding 14-6 in the decisive set.

The Bearcats learned this week that they were ranked #9 in the NCAA South Central Region. This is the second time SBU has earned an NCAA ranking this season, which are the first appearances on the NCAA charts in the history of the program.

SBU’s Ashley Jurgensmeyer led the attack tonight with 22 kills. Jurgensmeyer was joined by Rachel Sawyer, who added 16 kills for the Bearcats. Brianna Wallace contributed 51 assists tonight.

"We did a very good job tonight finishing when we needed to finish," said SBU’s head coach, Kelly Richardson. "We really took charge in that last set. I like the way we stayed aggressive through the entire match. We adjusted when we needed to adjust and refocused when we needed to refocus. It was definitely a big win tonight, and we’re going to take this intensity and momentum, and put into our match tomorrow."

The Bearcats came into tonight’s match with 2.28 blocks per set, which ranks them #19 in the nation. Jurgensmeyer averages 1.15 blocks per set, which ranks her #25 nationally. The Bearcats picked up six more blocks tonight.

Tonight’s win gives SBU a 5-2 record in matches that have gone 5 sets. The Bearcats are 11-11 overall and stand at 3-6 in the MIAA. They play Pittsburg State tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, October 18, 1:00) in Bolivar.