Missouri State outside hitters Jamie Adams and Sara Staubach combined for 38 kills and a .338 hitting percentage to lead the Bears to a 3-1 comeback victory over Southern Illinois in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball action Saturday in Carbondale. Scores in favor of Missouri State were 28-30, 30-27, 30-21 and 30-21.

With the victory, Missouri State improved to 23-3 overall and 12-1 in the league to maintain a tie for first place in the MVC with Wichita State. The Salukis fell to 12-12 and 4-8 in conference play.

The Bears found themselves in an immediate hole to open the match, trailing 6-0 in game one before getting on the board. Missouri State continued to fight from behind before going on a 5-0 run to take a 19-17 lead. The game was tied five times after that, but the Salukis took the final two points after a 28-28 tie to gain the early advantage.

Southern Illinois started game two on another run and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. MSU remained within striking distance and took its first lead at 19-17 following kills from Katelyn Panzau and Adams. SIU answered with a 6-0 before it was halted by a block from Panzau and Shayla Patrick with the Bears trailing 23-20. The Salukis maintained the lead until tie scores at 26 and 27 followed by Jamie Adams’ 10th kill, a service ace from Sara Thomas and a bad set by SIU made it 30-27 Bears.

Missouri State came out in game three and quickly took a 17-8 lead by hitting .700 on its first 10 attacks of the game. The offense cooled from its torrid pace to hit .343 while the Salukis hit just .070 in MSU’s 30-21 win.

MSU took its first game four lead at 3-2 and pushed the advantage to as many as four at 11-7 before SIU tied it at 13-13. The Bears forced a Saluki timeout with a 3-0 run, and Adams hammered her third straight kill followed by an SIU attack error to give MSU an 18-13 lead. The Salukis crept within two before a 6-0 MSU run put the Bears up for good at 24-16 before coasting to the 30-21 victory. SIU hit just -.049 in the final game.

Adams matched her career-best with 20 kills while committing only four errors for a .400 hitting percentage. Staubach totaled 18 kills and Shayla Patrick added 10.

The Bears blocked 12 Saluki attacks and had 69 digs with five players tallying double figures in digs.

Missouri State returns to action at Wichita State (21-4, 12-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2.