The Missouri State volleyball team used a season-high 20 blocks to pick up a key Missouri Valley Conference victory over Creighton at the Omaha Civic Auditorium Friday evening. The Bears improved to 22-6 overall and 12-3 in the league after winning by scores of 33-31, 23-30, 30-23 and 30-18. CU fell to 18-8 and 10-5 in the Valley.

The teams played to a 13-all tie in game one before Creighton went on a 7-2 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Bears responded with a critical run of their own to pull within one, and tied the game at every point from 25 to 31, fighting off two game points in the process. Back-to-back attack errors by CU’s Abby Baumann gave MSU a 33-31 win.

Creighton rebounded in the second game, holding MSU to a .000 attack percentage and never trailing in a 30-23 victory. The Jays recorded nine of their 16 blocks for the match in the period.

The third game was an exact reversal of the second, as Creighton hit just .000 in a 30-23 Missouri State win. The Bears had only nine kills in the period but blocked 10 CU attacks, leading to a total of 16 errors for the Bluejays.

The Bears jumped out to a 19-6 lead before making their first attack error in the fourth and final game. MSU hit .190 in game four but limited the Bluejays to a -.089 hitting efficiency. CU hit just -.040 in games three and four.

Sarah Lansing reached double figures in blocks for the fourth time this season, finishing with 11. Sara Thomas turned in a career-high seven blocks, and Shanda Harper matched that total while also finishing with a team-high 12 kills on .450 hitting.

Adeana McAfee topped the 30-dig mark for the third time this season and the first time in a four-game match, digging 31 CU attacks. Katelyn Panzau (16), Erin O’Connor (15) and Thomas (12) also reached double figures in digs.

O’Connor (11), Thomas (10) and Jamie Adams (10) joined Harper with double digit kill totals, as the MSU offense hit .111 for the match to .068 for the Bluejays.

Missouri State plays at Drake (6-21, 2-13) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.