WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State and Northern Colorado both hit under .200 for three out of four sets, but it was the Bears who made a series of clutch plays down the stretch to escape with a 20-25, 25-27, 25-15, 23-25 win on Friday night at Charles Koch Arena.

The Bears (9-3) hit .179 for the match and the Shockers (4-7) hit .146 as neither team could establish an offensive rhythm. Northern Colorado’s Maddie Davies was the only attacker who finished the night better than .300, recording a match-high 15 kills on 26 attempts.

Northern Colorado won a pair of deuce games that proved to be the difference. In the second set, WSU fought off a pair of set point opportunities at 24-23 and 25-24 before kills from Isabel Bennett and Davies finally put the set away. Then in the fourth and final frame, the Bears overcame a 21-19 deficit with help from two blocks a pair of Gabi Placide kills to secure the victory.

Wichita State managed to slow down the Bears in the third set, forcing Northern Colorado into 10 attack errors with three blocks mixed in. WSU hit just .097 themselves, but limited UNC to -.022 to stay alive and force the fourth stanza.

The Shockers were aided by 16 Northern Colorado serve errors, committing just four themselves. However, Wichita State could muster just a single service ace and did not score from the line over the final three sets.

Alyssa Gonzales led the Shockers with 13 kills but committed 12 errors, while Morgan Stout had 12 kills. Katie Galligan was superb defensively, racking up a match-best 18 digs in defeat. Izzi Strand finished with 38 assists, five kills and four digs.

Wichita State concludes the Shocker Volleyball Classic on Saturday afternoon against Omaha. First serve is scheduled for 4:00 pm.