EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Missouri State earned its fourth Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship and extended its winning streak to 15 matches with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) victory at Evansville Friday.
The Bears (24-7, 15-2 MVC) will be the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa, over Thanksgiving weekend, and enter Saturday’s finale at Southern Illinois (21-10, 12-5) with a one match lead and tie-break over Wichita State in the standings.
MSU’s first regular season title since 2003 comes on the heels of a 15-match winning streak that equals that team for the most consecutive MVC wins in school history. The Bears also claimed Valley titles in 1992 and 1993.
Missouri State never trailed in the first set, piling up 19 kills on .390 hitting in the 25-19 win. The Purple Aces (5-25, 1-16) closed within one point twice after the Bears jumped ahead 8-3, and Lynsey Wright fired three of her seven kills in succession for a 21-16 lead that allowed MSU to coast to the win.
The Bears led only at 8-7 in the second set until Lily Johnson’s kill finished off a 4-0 run for a 17-16 advantage. The Aces tied the set at 17 before Wright finished off another 4-0 run with an ace for 21-17, and both teams hit below .170 in the period.
MSU closed the match on a 20-5 run after trailing 12-5 in the third set. The Bears took their first lead on a UE attack error at 16-15 and never looked back, with Wright spiking three consecutive kills for a 23-16 advantage before swatting her 15th kill of the night on .440 hitting for the clincher.
Simone House added 10 kills without an error to hit .588, and Johnson had 10 kills as the Bears led 45-35 in that category and owned a .258-.158 advantage in hitting efficiency. Wright and Johnson served three aces each, Daniele Messa handed out 39 assists, and Emily Butters (12) and Tatum Marshall (10) posted double-figure dig totals.
