The Missouri State volleyball team extended its Missouri Valley Conference winning streak to three matches in a row Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of Illinois State inside Hammons Student Center in Springfield. The Bears (11-6, 3-2 MVC) defeated the Redbirds (9-8, 3-3) by the slimmest of margins in each set, winning by final scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 29-27.

    The Bears jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set and looked dominant early, leading by as many as eight points at 17-9. The Redbirds began to chip away at the lead, eventually tying the set at 21-all with a 12-4 run. The teams traded the next six points to a 24-24 score before MSU’s Sara Staubach smacked back-to-back kills for the win. Staubach ended the match with 13 kills on .333 hitting.

    The second set was a back-and-forth affair early on and neither squad could gain control until ISU used a 3-0 run midway through to go up 18-14. The Bears slowly inched closer, tying the score at 20-20 and getting the lead for good at 22-21 with a kill from Cara Hackmann.

    A 7-2 MSU run to begin the final set was met by an 8-0 Illinois State run to put the Bears in a 10-7 hole. Another Missouri State run took the score from a 12-10 deficit to a 17-13 lead and forced an ISU timeout. After the stoppage, the Redbirds clawed back and forced a pair of set points at 25-24 and 26-25, but it was all MSU after that with two more Staubach kills and an ace from Ashley Kell to seal the sweep.

    Addie Foley ended the match with a team-high 14 kills, and Hackmann added 13 and 10 kills for the double-double. Hackmann also finished with a team-high five blocks. Terri Del Conte led all players with 19 digs to go with a pair of service aces.

    MSU hit .262 as a team compared to Illinois State’s .246.

    Missouri State returns to action October 10 with a 7 p.m. match at Evansville.