The Missouri State volleyball team fought off five separate match points in the third set Friday to stun an Indiana State team looking for a sweep, and then dominated the final two sets to earn a 19-25, 13-25, 28-26, 25-13, 15-12 Missouri Valley Conference victory at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.

    The Bears, now 10-6 overall and 2-2 in MVC play, dropped the first two sets and trailed 24-21 in set three when an ISU (6-10, 1-4) attack error breathed life into MSU. Freshman Kelley Michnowicz followed with two consecutive solo blocks to tie the set at 24-24. The Sycamores had two more opportunities to win from there at 25-24 and 26-25, but both of those match points were answered by kills from junior Addie Foley. Indiana State then committed two attack errors after the 26-26 tie for the MSU win.

    Missouri State continued that momentum into the fourth set, hitting .378 as a team and getting five kills apiece from Foley and freshman Calli Norman. Those two headlined the offense for the Bears all night, as Norman had 16 kills on .371 hitting and Foley finished with 14 and a .324 attack percentage. Sara Staubach also reached double figures with 15 kills for the Bears.

    MSU won the first three points of the final set trailed only at 6-5. The Sycamores got no closer than two points after Cara Hackmann’s kill put the Bears up 10-8, and MSU continued its solid offense by hitting .258 in the set. Senior Terri Del Conte had nine digs in the final set as well on the way to setting a new career high with 27.

    Missouri State finished the match with a .194 hitting percentage, 15 blocks and a season-high 93 digs. Indiana State hit .182, had five players with 10 or more kills and got 36 digs from libero Kristy Cox.

    A pair of notable MSU streaks were preserved with the win as well. The Bears extended their win streak over Indiana State to 30 matches in a row, and have now won 42 straight matches against schools from Indiana.

    The Bears host Illinois State (9-7, 3-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday.