FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Missouri State volleyball was upset at the hands of IPFW Sunday afternoon at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind., falling by scores of 16-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-18 and 14-16 in the final non-conference match of the regular season.

    The Bears dropped to 15-7 overall with their third straight setback, while IPFW improved to 15-9.

    The match was nearly identical on the stat sheet, with IPFW leading 63-61 in kills and .222-.188 in hitting percentage, and Missouri State holding the advantage in blocking (10-8.5) and digs (98-91).

    Calli Norman set a career high with 23 kills, doing so on .370 hitting, and Melissa Gmur posted career bests in assists (54) and digs (21). Shayla Patrick’s 10 kills and six blocks were both season-highs. Cara Hackmann used 24 digs to jump to seventh on both the season and career digs lists at MSU.

    IPFW held a pair of two-point leads early in the deciding set before the Bears fought back for a 7-7 tie. The Mastodons scored the next point and Patrick and Bethany Fuller notched consecutive kills to give MSU its first lead since 2-1.

    The set was tied at nine, 10, 11 and 12 before IPFW used a kill and a block to set up match point. Sara Staubach pounded a kill and combined with Patrick for a block to knot the score again at 14-apiece, but IPFW’s Stephanie Lamberti put away two kills for the win.

    The Bears began the match slowly, hitting .150 and .119 in the first two sets, but were able to fend off IPFW in the second to tie the match heading to intermission.

    The Mastodons put together a near-perfect offensive third set, hitting .545 with 18 kills and no errors in a convincing win. The Bears adjusted in the fourth, holding the home team to .050 hitting while putting up a .258 figure, their highest of the match.

    The Bears return home Friday (Oct. 30) for a 7 p.m. contest against Creighton (9-12, 6-5) at Hammons Student Center.