FULTON, Mo. - No. 14 Webster and No. 21 Westminster entered Wednesday night's regular season finale at the Historic Gym knowing a win would give one of them a share of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title with Greenville University and by the time the nearly two hour match was completed, Westminster would leave the court with that co-championship following its 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24 win in four sets over the Gorloks. 

Despite the loss, Webster, who finished 10-3 overall and 10-3 in the league, earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming SLIAC Tournament and will open the tournament this Saturday at home against No. 6 seeded Blackburn (5-8 overall, 5-8 SLIAC). Westminster improved to 11-2 overall and 11-2 in the league with the win. 

Wednesday's loss was the first this season playing as a nationally-ranked team as they entered the match sporting a 6-0 record on the season playing as a nationally-ranked team. In addition, the loss was the first for Webster against a nationally-ranked foe as they were 2-0 on the year when facing a nationally ranked opponent. Earlier this month, Webster picked up a four-set win home win over then 10th-ranked Westminster and they also won at then No. 16 Greenville on March 10. 

The match was a back-and-forth affair most of the night as their were a combined 28 ties and 11 lead changes, including a combined 17 ties and nine lead changes in the final two sets. 

On the night, both teams hit over .200 and both teams combined to record 11 aces and 14 blocks, but Westminster finished the night with a 55-49 edge in kills and held a 60-53 edge in digs. 

Webster spread its offense around on Wednesday as seven players recorded at least five kills on the night led by junior outside/right side hitter Peyton Eikel (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Liberty), who finished the match with a team-high 10 kills on .346 hitting. In addition to Eikel, freshman right side hitter Alexis Wolf (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) added nine kills, three blocks and hit .273, while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) had eight kills and 13 digs to snap her streak of four consecutive double-doubles. 

Junior middle hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) hit a career-best .571 as she had five kills on seven attacks and just one error. 

Webster's defense was paced by 15 digs from junior libero Kyra Gensel (Clarkton, N.C./Harrells Christian), while sophomore defensive specialist Tori Cichelero (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline) added nine digs. 

Freshman setter Delaney Demman (Omaha, Neb./Central) and sophomore setter Mary Nelson (St. Louis, Mo./Bishop DuBourg) each had 13 assists and combined for nine digs, while junior setter/right side hitter Ali Spohr (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) had 12 assists and two aces. 

Haley Menke paced the Bluejays with 15 kills on .412 hitting, while Eryka Wanyonyi and Natalie Needy each had 12 kills and Needy added a match-high seven blocks. Wanyonyi paced Westminster with 14 digs, while Gretchen Durbala had a double-double of 45 assists and 12 digs. 

Webster has now finished in the Top 4 of the SLIAC standings for the 28th consecutive season and will be making its league-best 26th SLIAC Tournament appearance this season. 

Set 1: Westminster opened the first set by jumping out to a 9-4 lead, before the Gorloks responded with a 5-2 run to pull within 11-9. The Bluejays lead would grow to as much as 22-15 following an assisted block by Needy and Wanyonyi. The Gorloks would come back and score four of the next six points that was keyed by three Westminster errors to drop WC's lead to 24-19. A set error by Wolf on the next point gave Westminster a 25-19 win. In the set, Webster hit just .029 on seven kills and Westminster hit .188 with 13 kills, including five from Menke. 

Set 2: Webster scored the first three points and led 7-4 in the opening set when Westminster used a 7-2 run to push out to an 11-9 lead. Back-to-back errors by Westminster retied the set at 11-all, but the Bluejays would respond with a 7-4 scoring run to take an 18-15 lead. The Bluejays lead would grow to 22-18 following back-to-back kills by Claire Whitehouse and Menke, before WU used kills by Wolf, Borik and Nelson and an assisted block by both Burke and Eikel brought the Gorloks within two points at 24-22. Menke, though, would slam down her sixth kill of the set to seal Westminster's 25-22 set win. In the set, Webster hit .323 on 13 kills, while the Bluejays hit .275 on 18 kills. 

Set 3: Neither team was able to led by more than two points early in the third set until Westminster turned an 8-6 lead into an 11-8 lead after kill from Wanyonyi. The Gorloks would then rally to score three straight points to tie the set at 11-all. From that point, the set would be tied at both 12 and 13, before the Gorloks used a 7-2 run to take a 20-15 lead. The run began with a kill from sophomore middle hitter Juilia Frey (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) and was capped by a kill from Eikel. Westminster, though, would score three straight points to pull within 20-19, before Webster closed the set by scoring five of the final nine points, including capping the 25-23 set win with a kill by Frey to prevent a Westminster sweep. Webster would hit .290 in the set as they had 14 kills, while Westminster hit .200 with 11 kills. 

Set 4: Perhaps the set of the match was the fourth one as it had 10 ties and five lead changes. In the set, Webster jumped in front 8-5 and led 13-8 when the Bluejays responded by scoring four straight points to pull within 13-12. The Gorloks would hold the lead until Westminster scored two straight points to take a 17-16 lead. The lead, though, would be short-lived as Webster answered right back with kills from Spohr and Borik and an error by Payton Bledsoe gave the Gorloks a 19-17 lead. Westminster would come back and force ties at 19, 20 and 21 before scoring three points to push in front 24-21. With Menke serving for the win, freshman right side/middle hitter Katie Eskildson (Klamath Falls, Ore./Triad) put down a kill to bring WU within two at 24-22. A kill from Wolf and an error by Wanyonyi helped Webster retie the set at 24-all. The Bluejays, though, would use an attack error by Wolf to take a 25-24 lead and then sealed the match win with an ace by Needy. Webster outhit Westminster in the set, .171 to .147, but the Bluejays had three aces to one for the Gorloks.