One of the most successful seasons in Missouri State volleyball history came to an end Saturday evening with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-22, 30-19) loss to No. 13 Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Bears closed the season with a 27-9 record after their first ever trip to the NCAA second round, while Oklahoma improved to 28-5.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 4-0 lead to open the match before Sara Thomas and Shanda Harper put the Bears on the board with a block. The Sooners quickly extended the lead to seven at 9-2 and continued to build the margin with seven blocks in the period while holding the Bears to .029 hitting in a 30-19 win.
Missouri State took its first lead of the match at 2-1 in the second game and led 6-4 before the Sooners went on an 11-1 run to gain a 15-7 advantage. The Bears played the Sooners even to 30-22, but OU continued to clamp down defensively, limiting MSU to just 10 kills on the way to a 2-0 match lead.
The Bears fell behind 5-1 in game three but responded with a 5-0 run to take a one-point lead. OU had the answer again and pulled ahead 10-7, holding the lead between three and five before extending it to 29-18 with a late 8-0 run. Sarah Weiland put away the final kill for the 30-18 game three win and match sweep.
OU’s Eliane Santos, the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year, dominated the match, hitting .750 (16-1-20) and adding seven of Oklahoma’s 12 blocks.
Jamie Adams led the Bears with 10 kills on .240 hitting, but the offense attacked at just a .058 clip for the match. Harper had a part in six of MSU’s seven blocks. Adeana McAfee led Missouri State with seven digs.