PEORIA, Ill. -- Missouri State held Bradley to a negative hitting percentage over three sets Friday evening in a 25-18, 25-10, 25-12 Missouri Valley Conference sweep of the Braves in Peoria, Ill.
MSU improved to 15-4 overall and 8-0 in the league with its eighth straight win, while Bradley fell to 9-13 and 0-8 in MVC play.
The Bears began the match with a 7-2 run in the first set and Bradley never got closer than three points the rest of the way. Sara Staubach pounded six kills in 10 attempts in the set, though the rest of the MSU offense struggled as the team hit .147.
Missouri State left little doubt in the second stanza, grabbing a 14-2 lead. The Bears had four players hit above .400 in the set and totaled four blocks as a team.
Bradley opened the third set on a 5-2 run, but MSU retaliated with eight straight points to take control. The Bears hit .250 in the final set and .262 for the match, while Bradley hit -.056 for the three sets.
Staubach and Calli Norman shared match-high honors with eight kills each, and Norman hit .583 with seven blocks. Megan Bess and Kelley Michnowicz had six kills apiece and Cara Hackmann and Shelby Strang shared high-dig honors with eight, ending Hackmann's streak of 22 straight matches with 10 or more digs.
The Bears play at UNI (17-2, 8-0) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. UNI beat Wichita State 18-16 in the fifth set Friday. Missouri State has not beaten the Panthers in Cedar Falls since the Gateway Tournament championship match in 1990, a streak of 18 consecutive losses.
