CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Missouri State volleyball team won in straight sets for the second consecutive outing Friday, topping Southern Illinois by scores of 25-17, 26-24 and 25-22 in Missouri Valley Conference action at Davies Gym in Carbondale, Ill.
Missouri State (19-7, 10-5 MVC) bolted to a 5-1 lead in the first set and was rarely challenged throughout the period. The Salukis (14-11, 5-10) closed to 7-5 before the Bears went on a 6-1 run to lead 13-6 and kept the lead at four or higher the rest of the way. MSU hit .368 with just one attack error in the set, and
Kelley Michnowicz had six digs to surpass her season high for an entire match.
The second set was marked by several momentum swings, the last a 4-0 Missouri State run that brought the Bears back after facing two set points. SIU jumped ahead 6-3 when the Bears used a 6-1 run to lead 9-7 and pushed the lead to 13-10 on a
Calli Norman kill. The teams sided out to 16-13 when SIU tied at 16 and then used a 4-0 run to lead 20-18. MSU pulled even at 20-all, but the Salukis again answered to get set point at 24-22. From there, the Bears scored the final four points, capped by a pair of
Christine McCartney kills for the win.
The Bears grabbed leads of 5-2 and 8-4 in the third set before SIU chipped away and got the lead at 11-10. A 4-0 Saluki run made it 16-13 in favor of the home team, but the Bears came back with a 6-1 spurt that included three McCartney kills to lead 19-17. SIU tied at 19, the Bears went ahead 23-20, and the teams sided out for the MSU win.
Missouri State hit .288 as a team with five players logging at least six kills. McCartney led with 12, Michnowicz added 10 on .500 hitting,
Bethany Fuller hit .533 with eight kills, Norman added seven and
Carly Thomas was a perfect 6-for-6 in kill attempts to go with 32 assists, four blocks and three digs.
McCartney’s 12 kills made her the seventh freshman in school history with 300 kills in a season. She finished the match in sixth place on that list with 306, passing MSU career kills leader Michelle Witzke’s freshman total in the process.
Cara Hackmann led all players with 12 digs, directing a Missouri State defense that held SIU to .164 hitting in the match.
The Bears travel to Evansville (16-11, 5-10) Saturday at 5 p.m. for the final road match of the regular season.
