EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Missouri State volleyball team earned its third consecutive 3-0 win Saturday with a 25-22, 25-21, 26-24 victory at Evansville, reaching the 20-win mark for the 12th year in a row behind a balanced offensive performance that led to a .336 team hitting percentage.
Missouri State moved to 20-7 overall and 11-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference with the victory, extending its streak of 20-win seasons that ranks as the seventh-longest active streak nationally. Evansville fell to 16-12 and 5-11 in the league with its ninth straight loss.
The Bears hit above .300 in all three sets, beginning with a .395 showing in the first period with 18 kills. MSU used a late 4-0 run to turn a 17-16 deficit into a 20-17 lead that held up for the win.
Kelley Michnowicz took over in the final moments of the second set after the Bears trailed most of the way. The junior’s kills accounted for four straight MSU points to tie the score at 18, 19 and 20 before
Calli Norman’s kill gave the Bears a 21-20 lead. Norman combined with Fuller for a block and
Carly Thomas landed a kill for a 23-20 lead that proved enough for the Bears. Michnowicz finished the stanza with six kills.
Evansville had a 22-18 lead in the third set to all but extend the match before the Bears went on a 6-1 run to seize a match point chance. Freshman
Christine McCartney had three kills on the way to the 23-all tie while
Shayla Patrick and Michnowicz combined on a block for the 24-23 lead. Those two then scored back-to-back kills after UE tied at 24 to secure the win. The Bears had 20 kills in the final set with Norman, Patrick and McCartney finishing with five apiece.
For the match, Missouri State had 56 kills with four players totaling at least nine. McCartney led all players with 14, Michnowicz had 12 on .435 hitting, Norman hit .304 with 11 and Patrick hit .444 with nine kills and a team-high six blocks.
Thomas had 44 assists, three blocks, and four kills on .500 hitting, and the Bears stuffed 10 UE attacks in the match.
Cara Hackmann had 18 digs to lead all players.
Missouri State returns home Nov. 19 for a 7 p.m. match with Bradley before closing the regular season the next night against UNI.
