Box Score ELLISVILLE -- Hoping to make some noise in the playoffs, the Bears traveled to Ellisville Wednesday to face Jones in the first round of the Region 23 Postseason Conference Tournament.
 
And even though they put up a fight against the No. 1 seed Bobcats, the Bears unfortunately couldn't pull it out in the end, falling 13-25, 20-25, 8-25, ending their return season.
 
"It is always tough when you know your season is over," Southwest head coach Chris Laird said. "I felt we grew a lot as a team and individually. I've seen a lot of improvement from day one. We played with the majority of freshmen and a sophomore and overall I'm proud of our efforts and super proud that we made the conference tournament. We had to qualify and we did so. I'm proud of our first-year program making history. We're going to take a little while off. I've enjoyed being around this group of young ladies and looking forward to what our future has in store."
 
The Bears (7-21) matched up well with the Bobcats early on but lost momentum not long afterward. Jones went on a run and even though Southwest got key plays from Tierra Martin, Haley Eckert, Saylor Hammond and Reagan Robinson, it wasn't enough as the hosts took the first set.
 
In the second the Bears were much more competitive staying within striking distance of the Bobcats. Southwest reduced a five-point deficit down to one following a 4-0 run consisting of kills from Martin, Robinson and Eckert.
Southwest eventually drew even with Jones on three separate occasions over the next few minutes of play but unfortunately could not take the lead.
 
With the score tied at 20, the Bobcats rallied scoring the final five points to take the set.
 
In the third, the Bears were once again locked in a battle and grabbed an early lead at 6-5 following a kill from Hammond.
 
Afterward, however, Jones went on another run and Southwest unfortunately could not respond as the Bobcats pulled away to take the set and the match.