The Buena Vista volleyball team had its eyes set on winning the program's first-ever Iowa Conference title on Tuesday night, but the Beavers saw their goal come up just short in a heart-breaking five-set road loss at Wartburg College.

The Knights came out and took the opening set, 25-17, before the Beavers evened things up with a 25-18 win in the second.  The third set proved to be critical as Wartburg, who led BVU coming in by one in the IIAC standings, rallied late to steal the stanza with a thrilling 27-25 victory.

Buena Vista weathered the storm and forced the decisive fifth set with a 25-18 win in the fourth.

The Beavers scored the first two points of the fifth and led 3-1 early on.  That's when Wartburg went on a critical 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead, and the two teams switched sides with the Knights in front, 8-5.

BVU didn't back down and made things interesting in the end, clawing back from a 13-9 deficit to get within 13-12.  A serve into the net put Wartburg into match-point where the Knights closed things out with a kill to claim the outright regular season title and the top-seed into next week's IIAC Tournament.

The Beavers, who can finish anywhere from a second seed to a fourth-seed depending on the results of Wednesday night's final two IIAC matches, were led offensively by Jade Schaap's 23 kills.  Maddie Bardole was close behind with 18.  The duo also turned in double-doubles with Bardole registering 19 digs and Schapp 16.  Emily Mathews and Nevada Meis each turned in eight kills, as the Beavers finished with a .206 hitting percentage.

Laura Barry turned in 54 assists and 12 digs, to go along with five service aces.

Buena Vista dips to 16-15 overall and wraps up the IIAC schedule at 4-3.  The IIAC Tournament begins on November 3 so stay tuned to the BVU Athletics website on Wednesday night for the official first round match-up.