Missouri State’s volleyball team opened the 2006 State Farm MVC Tournament with a 30-11, 30-24, 30-25 win over sixth-seeded Evansville Friday afternoon at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill. The Bears improved to 25-7 with the victory, while UE ended its season at 12-18.

The Bears scored the first eight points of the match before the Aces forced a side out on an MSU service error. UE did not record its first kill until the score was 17-4, and Missouri State did not commit an attack error until Evansville blocked an MSU attack to make the score 21-6. The Bears would roll to a 30-11 victory, hitting .357 to just -.114 for the Purple Aces. Sara Thomas, Jamie Adams and Shanda Harper would combine for 14 kills and one error on 23 swings in the first period.

The second game was a much more competitive affair early, and was tied as late as 10-10 before the Bears went on a 4-0 run and held the lead at 2-6 points for the remainder of the game, winning 30-24. The MSU offense hit .128 while Evansville improved to .067 for game two, and Thomas continued her error-free match with three more kills on eight swings.

The Aces jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third game, but the Bears responded with a 10-1 run to gain a 12-6 advantage. UE would get no closer than three points for the remainder of the period as MSU held on for the 30-25 win. Adams had seven kills in the clincher, finishing the match with 14 to lead all players.

Thomas had 10 kills and 20 digs, her career-best for a three-game match, and Adeana McAfee led the Bears with 22 digs. The MSU offense hit .201 and the Aces came in at .007, with 27 kills to 26 errors. No Evansville player had more than six kills.

The third-seeded Bears advance to the semifinals to play No. 2 Wichita State (25-6) at 7:30 in a rematch of last season’s final that MSU won in three games. Missouri State and WSU split the season series in 2006, with each team winning in five games on the road.