Missouri State’s three seniors all posted terrific matches in the final regular season home match of their careers to lead the Bears to a 30-20, 34-32, 30-23 sweep of visiting Drake in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball Saturday at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.

Sara Thomas had 14 kills on .385 hitting, 16 digs and eight blocks, Jamie Adams tallied 11 kills and Katelyn Panzau dished out 44 assists and hit .750 with seven kills on eight swings as the Bears’ trio of seniors helped Missouri State improve to 24-5 overall and 13-3 in the Valley. Drake fell to 7-22 and 4-13 in MVC play.

The MSU offense came out firing in game one, hitting .378 and piling up 20 kills in the victory, but it was game two that set the tone for the match. Missouri State trailed the Bulldogs for much of the second game before gaining its largest lead at 27-25. Drake tied it at 27 and again at 28 before getting its first of three game-point opportunities at 29-28.

Cara Hackmann, who tallied her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs, knotted the game at 29-29 with a kill. The Bulldogs and Bears traded another set of game points before DU gained the upper hand at 32-31. MSU’s seniors did the rest, with Adams hitting back-to-back kills and Thomas and Panzau combining to block Drake freshman Angela Bys for a 34-32 win.

The Bears never trailed in the third and final game, pulling ahead by seven at 17-10 and never allowing the Bulldogs closer than four points the rest of the way. The MSU defense had 23 digs in the third game and frustrated Drake into hitting .071.

Missouri State hit .263 in the match to .076 for Drake, and also blocked 13 DU attacks and dug 66 more.

The Bears close the regular season at Bradley on Friday and UNI on Saturday. Missouri State hosts the State Farm MVC Tournament Nov. 23-24 at Hammons.