The Missouri State volleyball team put together one of its finest defensive performances of the season by holding Evansville to a .047 attack percentage in a 30-21, 30-28, 30-21 Missouri Valley Conference sweep of the Purple Aces Friday night in Evansville.

The Bears improved to 22-3 overall and 11-1 in the Valley with their sixth straight victory, while UE fell to 11-11 and 4-7 in league play.

Missouri State trailed just once in the match after facing a 5-4 deficit in game one, and the Bears hit .325 in the first game with Sara Staubach and Sara Thomas combining for eight kills without an error. Staubach tallied 12 kills in the match to finish as the only player for either team to reach double figures.

MSU pulled out to a 5-0 lead to open game two and extended it to 21-14 before an 8-0 Evansville run had the Bears facing a 22-21 deficit. Missouri State answered by winning the next four points and closed it out when Thomas and Cara Hackmann combined to block UE’s Anne Teegardin. Thomas was in on seven of Missouri State’s nine blocks.

The Bears matched their game two performance by grabbing a 5-0 lead in game three, but this time the Aces would get no closer than two points the rest of the match, as the MSU defense clamped down to hold UE to -.051 hitting. Staubach and freshman Shayla Patrick were the offensive stars, combining for 10 kills on .600 hitting.

Senior Jamie Adams added nine kills for Missouri State, while Thomas, Hackmann and Patrick ended with eight apiece. Katelyn Panzau dished out 39 assists, and the Bears dug 54 balls compared to 37 for an Evansville team that entered the match averaging more than 19 per game.

Missouri State plays at Southern Illinois (12-11, 4-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday.