Sara Thomas came within two blocks of her second consecutive triple-double and Terri Del Conte served a Missouri State season-high seven aces to lead the Bears in a sweep of visiting South Dakota State in non-conference volleyball action Sunday afternoon at Hammons Student Center. Scores in favor of MSU were 30-18, 30-14 and 30-26.
Thomas finished with 15 kills on .565 hitting and did not make an error until her 22nd swing of the match, while adding 13 digs and eight blocks as the Bears improved to 17-3. SDSU dropped to 15-6 with the loss. The win also preserved an impressive streak for Missouri State, as the Bears have now followed each of their last 18 losses with a victory dating to early in the 2005 season.
Del Conte’s big day at the service line began very early after the Bears got a kill from Sara Staubach to side out South Dakota State’s opening serve of the match. The junior served three consecutive aces to make the score 4-0, added another in game one and was at her final total of seven in two games. MSU began the first game on a 6-0 run and never let the Jackrabbits within three points after that.
Thomas had six kills in nine attempts in the first game and was a perfect 3-for-3 in MSU’s game two rout. The Bears hit .353 in game two compared to -.025 for the Jacks and blocked six SDSU attack attempts, with Thomas and freshman Cara Hackmann pairing up on four stuffs.
Missouri State limited SDSU to a .021 attack efficiency in game three but was unable to pull away despite 18 kills. The Jackrabbits were within two at 27-25 but could not avoid the sweep. Junior Ashley Kell dished out 15 assists in game three and finished with 38 in her first career start at setter in place of injured starter Katelyn Panzau.
The Bears finished with a .277 hitting percentage and held South Dakota State to an opponent season-low .032. SDSU entered the match ranked 23rd nationally in hitting efficiency at .263. MSU also finished with 12 blocks and 55 digs.
Jamie Adams tallied 12 kills for the Bears and Hackmann finished with eight on .500 hitting.
Missouri State closes the first half of the conference season Friday and Saturday at Drake and Creighton. CU is alone in first place with a perfect 7-0 Missouri Valley Conference record.
