CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The curtain closed Friday night on an unusual season for Campbellsville Lady Tiger Volleyball. Six-seed Campbellsville battled No. 3 seed St. Catharine through four sets, but fell short, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 19-25, 16-25), in the Mid-South Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Powell Athletic Center.

"Everybody played their hearts out and it showed. Obviously volleyball is a game of momentum, and we had some passing break downs and couldn't hang with them," CU head coach Amy Zink said. "I really wanted to win this for Jackie (Schwieger) and all of our seniors. She has been our workhorse. She has likely worked harder than any player I've ever had. I was also hoping to win this one for Jana (Kortas). She has been solid all year, and I thought she played very well tonight."

The loss ends Campbellsville's season with a 9-28 record and ends Jackie Schiweger's four-year career as a Lady Tiger.

"With all of these freshmen, I really felt I had to step up this year, and I had Jana, my three-year veteran, there to help. I really wanted to step up and lead this team," Schwieger said.

Kortas and Schwieger teamed up for five kills in the first game to set the tone for Campbellsville. Kortas finished the match with 14 kills for the Lady Tigers, while Schwieger had a tournament-high 40 assists. Jade Nelson had 10 kills. 

"I think everyone tried their hardest. The seniors knew this was our last shot. It's been a rough year, and we lost to St. Catharine twice, but I really thought we could do it. We took one game off of them, so we can say that," Schwieger said.

The Lady Tigers and Patriots battled point-for-point through most of the first set, until Rachel DeCoursey and Kortas had back-to-back kills to give Campbellsville a two-point lead, 14-12. The Lady Tigers held the lead in the first set all the way to 22-19. St. Catharine worked the set even at 22 before Schwieger assisted a Kortas kill to give CU a 23-22 lead. St. Catharine hammered out three straight kills Shauna Stone, Jordan Strickland and Rebecca Just to win the set, 25-23.

St. Catharine took a 3-1 lead to start the second set, but Campbellsville pushed in front, 11-8, after a kill by Marcella Compeau and two by Aleksandra Popovic. The Lady Tigers worked their lead to four points, 18-14, on a Compeau service ace, but Strickland and Casey Stone later combined for three straight kills to pull within a point, 19-18. The match once again was pulled even at 22, but this time, it was Campbellsville taking finishing with a 25-23 win after two Patriot errors and a set-point kill by Nelson.

CU's errors began to show in the third set though, as St. Catharine opened the set up 10-5, aided by five CU errors. Campbellsville, aided by three aces (Brooklyn Bowling 2, Schwieger 1) responded with an 8-1 run to take a 13-11 lead. But the Patriots used a 4-0 run to take the lead, 19-16, and closed the set, 25-19, with a 6-1 run. Set four was similar, as the Patriots pulled away for a 25-16 win.

Casey Stone led St. Catharine with a tournament-high 18 kills, followed by 12 by Just and 10 from Shauna Stone.

St. Catharine College advances to the MSC Semifinal on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET against No. 2 seed Georgetown College. The tournament resumes Saturday morning at 10 when top-seed Lindsey Wilson College meets No. 5 University of the Cumberlands. The championship match will be 6 p.m. ET in Powell Athletic Center.