The Missouri State volleyball team finished its regular season Saturday night with a 30-22, 30-25, 30-18 Missouri Valley Conference loss at Northern Iowa in front of 2,523 at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.
The Bears fell to 25-6 overall and 14-4 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the league standings with Creighton and UNI. MSU enters next week’s conference tournament as the fourth seed, with UNI as No. 2 and Creighton as the third seed after the league’s tiebreaking procedure. UNI improved to 20-10 and 14-4 in league play.
Tied at 3-3 in the first game, the Bears went on a 6-2 spurt to lead 9-5 early. The Panthers pulled within one point three times and tied the game again at 13-13 following a block. UNI extended its run to 5-1 to lead 17-14 and moved the advantage to six at 22-16 with solid defense before the Bears cut it back to four points. UNI held the lead between five and six the rest of the way until winning the final three points and closing the 30-22 victory with its fourth block.
Northern Iowa began game two with an ace and was quickly ahead 6-2 to force a Missouri State timeout. The Bears cut the lead to two on several occasions before freshman Cara Hackmann provided a kill and teamed with Sara Thomas for a block to even the game at 12-12. The same pair blocked UNI on the next point for MSU’s first lead of game two at 13-12.
The Panthers regained the advantage by two at 18-16 and retained the slim lead before a 3-0 run made it 25-21 in favor of the home team. The Bears got within three points two times but no closer, losing by five despite outhitting the Panthers .256-.227 in the game.
Neither team was able to gain control early in game three, with eight ties before the Bears went up by two at 13-11. A 12-0 run by UNI gave the Panthers the lead for good at 24-14, and UNI hit .350 with just two errors in the final game.
MSU’s Sara Staubach led all players with 12 kills, Thomas had 11 and Jamie Adams had 10. Hackmann and Nikki Vandepopulier each had 13 digs to lead the Bears, and Hackmann and Bethany Fuller tied for the team lead with three blocks.
The Bears hit .182 for the match to .290 for the Panthers, and finished the match with nine service errors and no aces.
Missouri State hosts the State Farm MVC Tournament at Hammons Student Center Nov. 23 and 24. The Bears will appear in the tournament’s first match at 10 a.m. Friday against fifth-seeded Illinois State (19-10, 11-7).
