The Missouri State volleyball team took the first set on Tuesday against Texas-Pan American but was unable to capitalize on numerous opportunities to win in the next three, eventually losing all three by just two points in a 3-1 home loss to the Lady Broncs.

    The Bears fell to 18-9 overall after the 25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 24-26 defeat, while UTPA improved to 6-13.

    The MSU offense was clicking in the first set, hitting .277 with seven kills on .667 hitting from Cara Hackmann and five kills without an error from Sara Staubach. Those two would lead the offense for the night, as Staubach finished with a match-high 17 kills and Hackmann had 16 on .517 hitting with 17 digs.

    The Bears were plagued by missed opportunities after the first set. MSU held a 23-20 lead in the second set before it ended on a 5-0 UTPA run, and held two set point chances in the third before falling again.
    
    In the final set, the Bears and Lady Broncs were tied at each point from 19 to 24 before MSU watched the visitors come through yet again by scoring the final two points to win the match.

    Terri Del Conte had 21 digs for the Bears, Nikki Vandepopulier had 17 and Ashley Kell added 13 to go with 50 assists. MSU hit .174 as a team to .169 for UTPA, and led the Lady Broncs in digs by a 94-90 margin.

    Missouri State returns to conference play Friday with a 7 p.m. match at home against Evansville.