BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The No. 6 seed University of Denver volleyball team (16-17, 11-7 SBC) fell 3-1 (25-23, 14-25, 21-25, 18-25) to No. 3 seed Western Kentucky (25-8, 13-4 SBC) in the Quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships, hosted by the Hilltoppers in the E.A. Diddle Arena on Thursday evening.

Seniors Alexis Ninos (Cypress, Texas) and Emmy Davidsmeyer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while sophomore Jordan Raines (Coppell, Texas) and freshman Faimie Kingsley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) both added six kills apiece.

"It was a tough way to end out season," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "We has good performances from our seniors tonight, but it just wasn't enough to get us past a very good Western Kentucky team."

Libero Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) led Denver defensively with 17 digs, while Kingsley blocked seven attacks at the net.

The Pioneers best effort of the match came in the first set as they battled back from an early deficit to tie the Hilltoppers 12-12. Denver then took the advantage off a kill from freshman Brianna Zimlich (Fort Collins, Colo.) and never looked back, sealing the set 25-20.

Emily Teegarden and Brittany Bowen led the Hilltoppers for the match with 12 kills apiece, while setter Lauren Stuckel dished out 40 assists.

The loss ends the season for the Pioneers, who finished the year with a 16-17 overall mark, 11-7 in conference action.

- PIONEERS -