WICHITA, Kan. -- Missouri State dropped the final two sets at Wichita State Friday in a 3-2 setback to the Shockers that moved the teams into a tie for third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

The Shockers won by set scores of 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19 and 15-11, moving to 16-8 overall and 10-4 in the league. The Bears fell to 17-9 and 10-4 in MVC matches, and the teams play an identical four-match schedule to close out the regular season.

MSU's Lily Johnson finished the match with 18 kills to set the school record for kills by a freshman, pushing her season total to 394 and passing the previous record of 377 posted by Vanessa Wouters in 1994. Johnson added 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the year.

The Bears edged out a two-point win in the first set after the score was tied 17 times as Simone House and Lily Johnson hit back-to-back kills from a 23-all tie, and led much of the second period until a 6-1 WSU run put the Shockers ahead 24-20.

Missouri State dominated WSU to an 18-5 advantage in the third set, but the Shockers pulled back to a 25-19 final and carried that momentum into the final two sets.

The Shockers hit .375 with 17 kills and two errors in the fourth set, leading by at least five points for the balance of the set after reaching a 12-6 lead. Then in the fifth, WSU hit 11 kills before its first error came when the Shockers were serving for the match. The Bears fended off four match point chances before Wichita State converted, but the seven-point deficit was too much to overcome.

The final two sets helped WSU finish the match with a 65-57 advantage in kills while out-hitting the Bears by a .224-.206 margin.


Missouri State had 11 blocks, including a season-high seven from Andrea Beaty, and Olivia Brand had 13 kills to move past Sara Staubach for 16th in school history in career kills.

Maddy Hogan's 17 digs led four Bears in double figures, though the Shockers held an 80-70 edge in that category.

Missouri State closes out its home schedule next weekend with matches against Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. Friday and Evansville at 7 p.m. Saturday. MSU will honor its four seniors prior to the UE match, and tickets that night are $4 for active or retired military personnel and first responders as part of Missouri State's Tribute to America's Heroes promotion.