SPRINGFIELD –– Missouri State finished the month of October without a loss for the second consecutive season after a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19) victory over Valparaiso Monday evening at Hammons Student Center in the first meeting between the schools as Missouri Valley Conference rivals.
The Bears (21-5, 13-0 MVC) extended their overall winning streak to 14 matches, tying for the seventh-longest in school history and third-best since 1983, while matching the fifth-longest streak in conference history with their 29th consecutive Valley win.
Missouri State had at least 22 digs in every set and out-dueled the nation’s leader in that category by a final 92-83 count as Emily Butters (24), Lily Johnson (22) and Daniele Messa (20) all reached 20 digs in the same match for the second time this season. Butters also surpassed Ashley Mason for the No. 2 spot on MSU’s career digs list with 1,719.
Sophomore Aubrey Cheffey equaled her career high with 17 kills, doing so on 35 swings without an error, while Lily Johnson led all players with 21 kills for her fourth 20-kill, 20-dig match of 2017, an MSU single-season record.
The Bears made a miraculous comeback to win the first set, closing on a 16-2 run after trailing 19-9. Cheffey had three kills and a block in a 9-0 spurt for a 19-18 deficit, and gave MSU the lead for good with another kill for 21-20.
Valparaiso (13-12, 5-7) led for the majority of the second set, breaking it open with a 5-0 run to lead 15-9 and extending the margin to 22-14 before the Bears got as close as 24-22. The third set featured six ties and five separate runs of 3-0 or better by the time MSU led 13-10, and Cheffey swatted four kills after MSU reached 15 points to help the Bears pull away from 15-14 to the 25-18 final.
The Crusaders led 16-13 in the third set when the Bears turned the momentum, beginning with back-to-back aces from Emelie Orlando for an 18-17 lead. Lynsey Wright followed with two of her 14 kills to make it a 4-0 run, and Lauren Boone added three kills during MSU’s closing 4-1 run.
Messa added 41 assists and three aces, and Butters narrowly missed a double-double with a career-high nine assists. The Bears hit .215 compared to .153 for Valpo and finished leads of 65-45 in kills and 7-3 in aces.
MSU continues its four-match home stand with Southern Illinois on Saturday at 7 p.m.
