ST. LOUIS – The No. 22 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team saw its magical 2025 season came to an end with a five-set loss to UIndy in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Thursday evening at the Mark Twain Building.

The two teams were evenly matched throughout the entire contest with the Greyhounds (21-11), seeded eighth, hitting .199 for the match while the Tritons, seeded first, hit .184 in the contest. The match saw 26 ties and 16 lead changes.

UMSL jumped out to an early five-point lead in the opening set but UIndy rallied to tie the score at 17 after an attack error by Maggie Johnson. The Tritons responded, closing the set on an 8-2 run to win the opener 25-19. Alayna Santel had three kills and an assisted block in that run.

The Hounds adjusted in the second set, hitting .244, had a side out percentage of 68 percent and held UMSL's offense to just nine kills in the frame and  a .077 hitting percentage. There were four ties and three lead changes early before UIndy took control with a 7-2 surge to build a 15-9 lead after a kill from Paige Parlanti.

The Tritons cut the deficit to 17-14 after a block by Santel but wouldn't get any closer as UIndy scored eight of the last 12 points to win 25-18.

The middle stanza was the tightest of the contest with 13 ties and 10 lead changes. The Greyhounds led 16-12 midway through the frame but UMSL went on a 6-1 run to take an 18-17 lead after a kill from Santel. UIndy countered with three straight to retake the lead but the Tritons got a kill from Hannah Copeland and a block from Bridget Cassady to knot the set at 20.

UMSL scored two of the next three points to take a 22-21 lead but was unable to close it out as UIndy scored the final four points of the set to win 25-22.

The Tritons led by as many as seven points in set four hitting .256 in the frame with 14 kills to win 25-18 and force the decisive fifth set. Johnson and Santel combined for five kills each in the stanza.

There were four ties in the winner take-all fifth but the Hounds never relinquished the lead as they built a three-point cushion at 10-7 on a block by Parlanti. UMSL cut the deficit to one twice but were unable to tie it back up as UIndy ended the match on a 4-1 run to secure the upset victory.

Maddie Lynch finished with a match-high 18 kills and was joined in double figures by Parlanti with 14 and Kaitlin Fasbender with 12 kills and eight total blocks. Carly Fonda dished out 49 assists and Parlanti added 22 digs.

The Tritons were led by Santel with 15 kills and seven total blocks while Johnson added 13, Iyannah Jackson had 12 kills and Copeland finished with 11 kills. Caitlin Bishop handed out 51 assists and Skylar Weaver had a match-high 30 digs.

UMSL finished its season with a record of 26-5, went undefeated in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and won the GLVC's regular season and postseason championships.