BILLINGS, Mont.  – The Bushnell volleyball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday evening as they fell in the opening round of the NAIA National Championship tournament to Rocky Mountain, 26-24, 25-21, 25-15.
 
Bushnell played a spirited game, and even had a set-point of their own in the first, but couldn't string together enough points to pull off the upset of the No. 18 ranked Bears. Making things more difficult was the loss of All-American setter Makenna Northern who went out late in the second second with an injury.
 
"That was tough," said head coach Jason Corwin. "Rocky did a good job of covering their weaknesses. We lost some momentum after dropping that first set and had just started getting our groove back when Kenna went down."
 
The Beacons were led by sophomore Payton Jones who hit .700 with seven kills and four blocks. Halle Neumann posted the team-high with eight kills along with two blocks. Callie Wilkins led the team with 13 digs and Northern added 16 assists. Peyton Ritchie came in to set in Northern's stead for the end of game two and all of game three, claiming seven assists, two digs and block, along with two kills on two dump attempts.
 
"Peyton did such a good job coming in and running the offense," said Corwin. "The team really rallied around her but we just couldn't overcome our errors and their timely point scoring. We tip our hat to a good team tonight and wish them well at the NAIA Final Site."
 
Rocky Mountain (17-4) was led by Weiying Wu, hitting .500 with 12 kills. Natalie Hilderman collected 31 assists while Ayla Embry posted 21 digs, both match-highs.
 
For the Beacons, it ended up being the final match for seniors Natalie Martin, Claire Salness, and Kirsten Mueller. Corwin said, "What a great legacy this group of seniors has given us, lifting that first NAIA appearance banner on the wall. They had a lot of firsts, a lot of records, and they will be missed next season."
 
Bushnell ends their campaign at 13-7, with all but one loss coming at the hands of just three schools, Rocky, Eastern Oregon, and Corban, all teams ranked inside the NAIA top-20 for the entire year. The Beacon's .650 winning percentage is a new school-record.