Missouri State and Wichita State opened Missouri Valley Conference play Friday evening at Hammons Student Center, and the visiting Shockers took the rematch of last season's MVC Tournament title match in five sets by scores of 26-24, 20-25, 25-12, 21-25, 15-10.
The first period set the tone for the match and ultimately tipped the scales towards the Shockers (8-4, 1-0) after the Bears (9-6, 0-1) overcame a 16-11 deficit to tie the score at 24-all. WSU took advantage of two MSU attack errors to claim the set, and the Bears quickly evened the match with a solid performance in the second period.
MSU senior Simone House had two blocks early in the second during a 4-0 run for an 11-7 lead, and the Bears led by at least two points the rest of the way as the MSU defense held the Shockers to a .091 attack efficiency in the set.
The next two periods were mostly one-sided, with Wichita State out-hitting the Bears .458-.038 in the third set, and MSU leading by at least three points for the balance of the fourth set after jumping ahead 9-4.
The fifth set was all Shockers, as Wichita bolted to a 7-1 advantage and finished with 12 kills and no errors. A Lily Johnson kill pulled MSU to within 13-10, but WSU responded with a kill and a block to seal the win.
Johnson led the Bears with 18 kills and 13 digs, while Lynsey Wright added 14 kills and House finished with six blocks and 13 kills on a .458 hitting percentage. Tatum Marshall lifted a season-high 17 digs.
The Shockers boasted a balanced offensive attack, with six players tallying between eight and 15 kills. Each team committed 23 attack errors, but WSU converted each of its additional 11 swings into kills for a 68-57 lead in that category.
The Bears return to action Monday at 7 p.m. against Southern Illinois (10-5, 1-0) at Hammons Student Center.
