MILWAUKEE – When playoff time rolls around anything can happen. The Raiders found that out the hard way this evening as a CUW team that they beat 3-0 earlier this year upended their tournament hopes with a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday night.

RESULT
No. 6 Seed CUW – 3 (25, 17, 25, 19, 16)
No. 3 Seed MSOE RAIDERS – 2 (23, 25, 16, 25, 14)

HOW IT HAPPENED
MSOE (9-8, 8-3 NACC) entered this evening's contest as the third seed in the NACC men's volleyball tournament and drew sixth seeded CUW (6-7, 5-5 NACC) thanks to their regular season efforts. Set one was a battle as each team registered double-digit kills, but it was the Falcons who took the opening victory 25-23. The match went back and forth after that point with the Raiders storming back to take the second frame 25-17 before CUW went ahead by one again via a 25-16 score. Needing to win set four, the Raiders had their best hitting stanza of the night, attacking at a .424 clip, and getting the sideout 73 percent of the time. The 25-19 win set up a do or die fifth and final frame, one that saw the Red & White have a lead as large as four. MSOE looked to be on the verge of victory as they led 14-11 and needed just a single point to move on to the NACC semifinals. However, it wasn't in the cards as the Falcons rattled off five straight points to win the final set 16-14 and take the match 3-2.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Kills – Tyler Christensen (21)
Digs – Austyn Bella (15)
Assists – Kalvin Fellows (31)
Aces – Jacob Sirny (3)
Blocks – Matthew Binkus (4)

WHO'S ON DECK
Tonight's loss ends the Raiders 2021 season.

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