THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team played a hard-fought battle against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas Friday afternoon in Thousand Oaks, but fell 3-2 to CMS in the NCAA Regionals. The Cru ends their season at 25-6 while the Athenas advance to the second round of the regional.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps pulled away in the middle of the first set, using a pair of 4-0 runs and a 5-0 run to grab a 23-16 lead. Shelby Prather came in and served four straight points for the Cru, but UMHB was unable to catch the Athenas, dropping the first set 25-22. UMHB trailed by as many as six in the second set, but used a 9-3 run to tie the set at 19. The teams then exchanged leads before Cheyenne Dowdey served the final two set points for UMHB's 27-25 second-set win. The Athenas came out hot in the third set, hitting .273 and taking the set 25-15. UMHB led the fourth-set early, but the Athenas crafted a comeback to take a 22-21 lead late. Bianca Patterson responded to the deficit with three-points of her own, helping the Cru to a 28-26 fourth-set win. UMHB led the Athenas 8-7 at the fifth-set split, but fell 15-12 to the Athenas in the final set.

Kendall Pye led the Cru with a triple-double, recording 16 kills, 30 assists and 17 digs. Lauren Powell recorded 15 kills while Patterson had 13 as the Cru hit .145 in the match. Shelby Prather split time as a setter with Pye, recording 27 assists in the contest. Defensively, Kendra Feldmann recorded a team-high 33 digs while Powell added 20. Cheyenne Dowdey led the charge at the net, recording one solo block and five block assists en route to a team-total nine blocks. UMHB totaled 66 kills on 227 attacks and 106 digs.