Oct. 25, 2013

Final Stats

SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State volleyball team began its second round of Missouri Valley Conference play Friday with a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 25-16) loss to Northern Iowa at Hammons Student Center.

The Bears (13-9, 5-5 MVC) dominated for significant stretches of the match, but the Panthers (16-6, 8-2) closed out the first and third sets with key runs to earn the road victory.

The third set was the turning point of the match as the Bears cruised to a 19-10 lead with a strong offensive effort. UNI used a pair of 4-0 runs to close to 19-14 and 22-19, then added a 5-0 spurt to gain set point at 24-23. Karen Rivatto and Kayln Vlasin combined for a block for a 24-24 score before two UNI kills pushed the Panthers over the top at 27-25.

UNI's big comeback deflated the Bears and helped the visitors to a relatively easy win in the fourth set as the Panthers hit .333 as a team while Missouri State committed eight errors and hit .059.

After the Panthers finished the first set on a 3-0 run, Missouri State's offense piled up 21 kills and hit .349 in the second period to even the match. Rivatto landed three of her season-high 18 kills during an early 5-0 run that put MSU up 8-4, and, aside from a brief 14-13 lead for UNI, Missouri State led the remainder of the set. Christine McCartney came up big for the Bears late with kills for leads of 23-18, 24-20 and 25-20.

Missouri State held a 66-58 lead in kills and a 79-61 advantage in total digs, while UNI had 15 blocks to just three for the Bears and hit .288 compared to MSU's .226 attack efficiency.

McCartney joined Rivatto in double figures with 13 kills while Simone House (9) and Kayln Vlasin (8) each posted season-highs in that category. Ashley Mason led all players with 28 digs.

The Bears take on Drake (2-20, 0-10) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs were swept at Wichita State Friday.