MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team battled tough against Upper Iowa on Saturday but fell in four sets to close out the season, 20-25, 25-18, 25-17, 27-25 at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead.
 
MSUM finished 5-15 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Upper Iowa, which is the No. 7 seed in the NSIC tournament, improved to 13-7 in the league.
 
Junior outside hitter Bridget Witzmann had 10 kills while Carlson had seven.
 
Freshman setter Kelly Klees had 25 assists.
 
Freshman middle blocker Abby Thompson had two solo blocks and three assists while Carlson and junior middle blocker Elise Bakke had three assists each.
 
Sophomore defensive specialist Brooke Walthall had 17 digs while Carlson had 15 and Klees 14. Witzmann had 10 for a double-double.
 
The first set was tied at 13-13 but the Dragons scored five points in a row – include included a kill from Witzmann and three Upper Iowa errors – to build an 18-13 lead.
 
MSUM led the rest of the set and Klees finished off the set with a kill to give MSUM a 25-20 win.
 
Upper Iowa won the next two sets, but in the fourth set, MSUM regained some momentum. With the set tied at 9-9 the Dragons scored five in a row – which included kills from Bakke, Thompson and freshman outside hitter Summer Salettel – to build a 14-9 lead.
 
MSUM built a 24-17 lead after a block from Carlson and Bakke and was one point away from forcing a fifth set. But Upper Iowa rallied by scoring 10 of the final 11 points to take a 27-25 win.