Final Stats

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Missouri State earned its 20th victory of the season Sunday afternoon with a come-from-behind five-set win over Loyola inside Gentile Arena.

The Bears (20-9, 11-5 Missouri Valley Conference) won by set scores of 21-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-19 and 15-5 to reach the 20-win plateau for the 16th time in the last 17 seasons and extend their overall winning streak to five matches. Loyola fell to 19-10 and 8-8 in MVC play. MSU remains in third place in the league standings entering the final weekend.

MSU scored 23 of the final 28 points in the match, overcoming a 19-17 deficit in the fourth set with an 8-0 run before blitzing the Ramblers with an 11-1 start to the fifth. The Bears are now 7-4 in five-setters this year.

Trailing late in the fourth set, the Bears kept Loyola from scoring the rest of the period, taking the lead on a Tatum Marshall ace and getting two kills and a block from Lynsey Wright.

Missouri State's momentum carried into the fifth, as the Bears jumped ahead 4-0 with the help of two more Wright kills for what amounted to a 12-0 run over two sets, and extended the run to 19-1 after a block by Wright and Lily Johnson for an 11-1 advantage. LUC closed to 11-5 before a Johnson kill began the closing 4-0 run.

The Bears were unable to overcome an 8-1 deficit in the first set, and battled back from a 16-13 hole in the second as back-to-back kills by Simone House and Paige Perego gave MSU a 22-19 lead before the teams sided out the next six points for the 25-22 Missouri State win.

The third set was another seesaw battle that the Bears seemingly had under control after House scored a kill for a 22-18 advantage. Perego kills accounted for MSU's next to points to 24-23, but the Ramblers spoiled a trio of set points for the Bears before closing on a 3-0 run for the win.

Johnson led the Bears with 23 kills to give her 499 on the season, surpassing her 2014 total for sixth place on MSU's single-season list. Wright added 15 kills and five blocks. Emily Butters paced MSU digs, and Brianne Dixon matched a career high with 15. The Bears hit .244 compared to .214 for Loyola.

Missouri State closes the regular season with home matches against Evansville (Nov. 20, 7 p.m.) and Southern Illinois (Nov. 21, 7 p.m.), and hosts the MVC Tournament at Hammons Student Center Nov. 26-28.