SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State volleyball team trailed Saint Louis for the majority of the match Friday, but managed to prevail in four sets by scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23 in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center.

    The match was a defensive struggle throughout with numerous long points, evidenced by the Bears (7-1) hitting .167 and the Billikens (2-5) checking in at .129. Calli Norman led Missouri State with 13 kills and Megan Bess had 12. MSU blocked 11 SLU attacks.

    Saint Louis grabbed early leads in all four sets but was only able to hold on in the first. The Bears nearly came back from a 14-7 deficit in the opening period, forcing a 22-all tie before the Billikens put away the final three points.

    The Bears turned a 9-3 deficit into a 22-17 lead in the second set by holding SLU to a match-low .077 hitting percentage. The Billikens fought off three set points before Bess landed a kill to tie the match.

    The Billikens again controlled most of the third set, leading late at 19-15 when another MSU run gave the Bears a lead at 21-20. The teams traded four sideouts to 23-22 and a pair of Saint Louis attack errors gave MSU the win.

    Missouri State finally scored first in the fourth set, but the theme of early Billiken leads continued with the visitors going up 11-8. The Bears mounted a 5-0 run to gain the lead, gave it back after three straight SLU points, and then used a 4-0 spurt to get the advantage for good at 18-15. Saint Louis fought off one match point before Kelley Michnowicz powered home the winning kill.

    The Bears play Utah (4-3) at noon Saturday and Oklahoma (6-3) at 7:30 p.m. that evening. OU defeated the Utes 3-1 in Friday’s first match.