SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State volleyball team split two matches at the annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Saturday, beating Utah in five sets before losing 3-1 to Oklahoma in the championship match.

    The Bears (8-2) topped the Utes by scores of 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 10-25, 15-9 in the afternoon match, and lost a heartbreaker to the Sooners in the evening contest by a final of 25-19, 23-25, 27-29, 26-28.

Utah Recap
    It looked like two separate matches through four sets with Missouri State easily winning the first two and Utah cruising through the next two. The Bears hit .328 to Utah’s .138 for the 2-0 lead, but slipped to .055 over the next two sets while the Utes jumped to .250 in forcing the deciding fifth set.

    Utah continued that trend early in the fifth, grabbing the 2-0 lead before surrendering it to Missouri State at 6-5. The Bears committed three straight attack errors to trail by two again before putting together an improbable 7-0 run to lead 13-8. Freshman setter Carly Thomas surprised the Utes with three kills in the frame and the Bears had three blocks while holding the visitors to -.024 hitting to snag the victory.
   
    Freshman Christine McCartney had 17 kills to lead MSU, adding 15 digs for her second double-double of the year. Cara Hackmann scooped a team-high 18 digs to pass Adeana McAfee for second in school history with 1,557 for her career. Kelley Michnowicz hit .375 with 10 kills.

Oklahoma Recap
    The Bears held OU to .029 hitting in the first set and used  a 7-0 run to take a 12-6 lead before cruising to the win.

    The next three sets all involved late MSU leads that slipped away. The Bears watched the Sooners score the final four points of the second set after leading 23-21, and then fought off a combined four set points and lost three over the last two sets.

    Missouri State led the third set 27-26 when the Sooners reeled off three in a row for the win, and saw the same thing happen in the fourth after a 26-25 advantage.

    McCartney led all players with 16 kills, and Hackmann’s 24 digs left her two shy of the school’s career record, though she did tie the mark for career double-figure dig matches at 80.

    The Bears open Missouri Valley Conference play Friday at 7 p.m. at 18th-ranked Northern Iowa in a showdown of the top two teams in the MVC preseason poll.

All-tournament team
Sarah Freudenrich, Oklahoma (MVP)
Sallie McLaurin, Oklahoma
Maria Fernanda, Oklahoma
Carly Thomas, Missouri State
Christine McCartney, Missouri State
Alyssa Deno, Saint Louis
Morgan Odale, Utah