Final Stats

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Missouri State used a pair of late comebacks and several standout individual performances to earn a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-23) victory over Evansville Monday evening at the Carson Center.

Lily Johnson led the Bears (16-9, 7-5 Missouri Valley Conference) with 21 kills and 13 digs, registering her 16th double-double of the season and 18th career 20-kill match. Simone House added 11 kills and hit .407 without committing an error.

Three Bears reached statistical milestones in the match as well. Kinsey Batten's 44 assists made her the seventh player in MSU history with 2,500 in a career, and Emily Butters became the first Missouri State freshman to record 400 digs in a season. Johnson also reached 400 kills for the second consecutive season, the first Bear to do that since Erin Murphy in 2002 and 2003.

Missouri State overcame late deficits to win the first and third sets by identical scores. Evansville (8-19, 2-11) held a 22-20 lead in the first set when House swatted kills for leads of 23-22 and 24-23 before Lynsey Wright and Ashley Ophoven teamed up for the winning block.

In the third set, the Aces used a 5-0 run to lead 22-19, and the Bears again battled back for ties at 22 and 23 before House and Johnson landed the final two kills.

MSU pulled away from a 9-9 tie in the second set, with Wright providing two kills during a 3-0 run for a 12-9 lead, Batten acing UE for 16-11 at the end of another 3-0 run, and Ophoven hitting consecutive kills for a 20-13 advantage that allowed the Bears to coast to the win.

Missouri State held a 49-38 margin in kills while hitting .212 compared to .180 for Evansville. MSU also owned a 69-61 lead in digs with Butters and Elise Munroe accounting for 18 apiece, while the Aces owned the edge in blocking, 8-5.

The Bears return home Friday for a 7 p.m. match with UNI and host Drake at 7 p.m. Saturday.