Oct. 29, 2013

Final Stats

SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State volleyball team hit over .300 for a second consecutive match Tuesday in a 25-19, 25-12, 26-24 sweep of visiting Southeast Missouri State in the team's final non-conference match of the season.

For the Bears (15-9), five players had at least seven kills - four of those hitting .304 or better - to help the team pile up 50 kills in three sets and hit .343 compared to 31 kills and a .135 attack efficiency for the Redhawks (13-13).

Freshman Simone House led the way with a career-high 11 kills on .529 hitting with four blocks. Amber Doolittle joined her in double figures with 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage, while Olivia Brand and Karen Rivatto had nine kills each. Carly Thomas added seven kills in nine attempts while dishing out 41 assists.

Missouri State's 4-0 run in the first set gave the Bears a 14-11 lead and a 5-0 run that included kills from Rivatto, Doolittle and Brand extended the advantage to 19-12, which was enough to withstand SEMO closing the gap to four points on three occasions.

The Bears blitzed the Redhawks in the second set with 15 kills and a .519 hitting percentage. Missouri State scored its 25 points with 15 kills, nine SEMO attack errors and one setting error as House and Brand had four kills each and the visitors managed only five kills.

The third set was tied nine times to a 14-14 deadlock when the Bears used a 5-0 run to pull ahead 19-14. Doolittle and Thomas had two kills each during the run, which was capped by Doolittle and Brand stuffing a SEMO attack, and the teams traded the next seven points until a Redhawk block made it 22-19. Southeast pulled back for ties at 23 and 24, but Doolittle came up big with kills for leads of 24-23, 25-24 and 26-24, atoning for two attack errors that helped the Redhawks tie at 23-all.

It was a milestone defensive night for two Bears, as Ashley Mason's match-high 15 digs moved her into third place on MSU's career list, while Thomas had seven digs to pass three players - including her older sister Sara - for 14th place.

The Bears return to Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7 p.m. Friday match at Southern Illinois (12-11, 7-4 MVC).