FULTON, Mo. - After clawing back from a 2-0 early deficit, Westminster volleyball dropped a 3-2 match to No. 1 Greenville to end the regular season.

Westminster enters the SLIAC Tournment, hosted by Greenville Saturday, as the No. 2 seed. They end the regular season with an 18-11 record and a 14-4 SLIAC record. 

"I think we did a lot of things well," said Westminster Head Coach Curtis Madson. "We showed why we have two of the top middles in the conference. Their play was huge in our effectiveness tonight."

The match began with two 25-21 set wins from Greenville despite a long back-and-forth game that favored neither team. The Blue Jays found themselves in danger of a shutout entering the third set, but delivered with a 25-18 win to stay in the match. 

The fourth set featured the largest margin of victory for either team with a 25-16 win to go into a fifth set.

Greenville began the set with three straight points to lead 3-0, but the Blue Jays again remained close behind, eventually leading 11-9 before Greenville was forced to call a timeout. The Panthers came out of the break to win six of the next seven points to claim sole possession of the conference regular season title and the rights to host the SLIAC tournament. 

Westminster played in front of a crowd of 300 tonight, the largest of the season.

"Tonight was what a championship atmosphere is like," said Madson. "I think our ladies handled it well. They really helped fuel our 2-0 comeback."

Westminster had three players record double-digit kills, including both of the team's middles. Elizabeth Kelley led all hitters with 14 kills while Hannah Marshall and Amanda Kiso followed with 13 and 12, respectively. 

Kayla Reeg led either team in assists with 41 and Bridget Ringwald led all passers with 24 digs. 

Westminster travels to Greenville Saturday to face No. 3 Spalding in the tournament semifinal at 4 p.m.