CHICAGO -- The Missouri State volleyball team overcame a five-point deficit in the fifth set Friday evening to steal a 3-2 win from Loyola inside Gentile Arena. The Bears (8-6, 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference) trailed the Ramblers (5-7, 1-2) by a 13-8 score in the final set before closing on an 8-1 run that included four kills from freshman Lily Johnson to win by set scores of 25-9, 22-25, 25-27, 25-17, 16-14.

Loyola seized control of the fifth set with a 4-0 run for a 9-6 lead and led 13-8 on a kill from Morgan Reardon, the MVC's leader in that category entering the match. The Bears countered with a Johnson kill and Maddy Hogan's fourth ace of the night followed by a pair of LUC errors to close to 13-12, but Hogan missed on her next serve to give match point to the home team. Johnson fired back with three straight kills for a 15-14 MSU advantage, and Elise Munroe served the Bears' 10th ace of the night for the win.

The Bears dominated the first set, jumping out to a 20-4 lead as the Ramblers conceded 11 points on attack errors while mustering only five kills. Loyola committed nine more attack errors in the fourth set as Missouri State cruised to a comfortable win after an early 10-3 lead.

The Ramblers had the Bears in a 2-1 hole after three sets thanks in large part to an 8-0 run to close the second period after the Bears led 22-17. In the third, MSU overcame an 11-5 deficit and the set was tied 11 times after a 14-14 score before the Ramblers scored the final two points for the win.

Johnson led the Bears with a match-high 20 kills to become the MVC's first player to reach the 200-mark this season, while Reardon finished with 15 kills against 12 errors. Olivia Brand added 12 kills for MSU and freshman Lauren Boone notched career highs with six kills, two digs and two blocks.

Tatum Marshall (5) and Hogan (4) each established career highs for service aces, and the Bears owned a nine-point advantage at the service line as the defense only surrendered one ace to the Ramblers.

The Bears hit .186 with 59 kills and 26 errors, and the Ramblers hit .138 with 56 kills and 33 errors. Loyola led in digs (74-65) and blocks (13-9), with Hogan pacing the Bears with 22 digs and Simone House recording five blocks.

The Bears visit Bradley (0-13, 0-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Braves were swept by Wichita State Friday.

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