The Missouri State volleyball team concluded its first weekend of the season by splitting a pair of matches Saturday at the Oregon Classic in Eugene, Ore. The Bears (1-2) dispatched San Francisco 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 30-28, 12-25, 15-8) in the afternoon before falling to 14th-ranked Oregon in the nightcap by a 25-15, 25-13, 25-19 score.

    Missouri State makes its home debut this coming weekend with the Results Advertising/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Presented by Ramada Oasis at Hammons Student Center. The three day, five team event kicks off with the Bears hosting UC Davis Thursday (Sept. 3) at 7 p.m.

San Francisco Recap
    With the match tied at 1-1, neither team gave in during the third set with USF fighting off four Missouri State set points before gaining its own at 28-27. The Bears answered with Bethany Fuller’s kill tying things at 28 before the defense stuffed two attacks for the win.
   
    San Francisco rolled through the fourth set with a 25-12 win and continued that with a 4-1 start to the deciding fifth stanza. Missouri State responded with a 9-0 run to lead 10-4 and cruised to the 15-8 win, holding the Dons to two kills and -.182 hitting in the final frame.

    Cara Hackmann finished the match with a career-high 26 digs, and Sara Staubach paced the Bears with 15 kills. Addie Foley added 11 kills and 14 digs, Megan Bess had 10 kills and Calli Norman had 10 kills and eight blocks. Fuller and Michnowicz had five blocks each as the Bears totaled 14 as a team.

Oregon Recap
    Missouri State scored the first point of the match but never led again in the first set in a rematch of a 2007 NCAA Tournament first round contest. The Ducks went on to win 25-15 and continued to roll in set two, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and winning 25-13.

    The Bears played UO tough in the third set, but another slow start proved costly. Missouri State played the Ducks even after falling behind 7-1, losing the final set 25-19.

    Staubach and Foley tied for team high honors with six kills as the Bears managed just 27 on .145 hitting. Michnowicz had five kills without an error and Hackmann scooped 12 digs.

    Norman made the all-tournament team, averaging 2.33 kills on .312 hitting to go with 1.17 blocks per set in the three matches.