ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College volleyball team's season came to an end with a 3-0 defeat (25-18, 25-9, 25-9) at University of Northwestern (UNW) in the semifinal round of the UMAC Championships on Wednesday.

The Knights knew they had their hands full against the top-seeded Eagles, and UNW showed why they entered the match in the top 15 in the latest national poll.

MLC battled throughout, but could not find a way to put a ball down against the active UNW defense. MLC hit .009 for the day, but managed only 20 total kills thanks to seven UNW blocks and 29 digs from the Eagles' libero Marylyn Schroyer. 

On the other end, UNW hit .382 on the attack, and the Knights could not contain the front row combination of Gabrielle Straub and Ari Schmidt, who combined for 24 kills against only three errors on the night.

Kelsey Birschbach finished her stellar four-year career with the team lead once again in kills with six, while Rhianna Hunter chipped in with five of her own.

Birschbach also led the Knights with 13 digs, while Kate Aswege recorded eight digs to finish her distinguished career with 1,428 digs, second-most in program history.

MLC fell to 10-16 to finish the season in defeat. UNW improved to 28-3 with the win, and advanced to the final match in the UMAC Championships later this week.