Final Stats

MVC Tournament Bracket

SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State picked up its fourth RPI top-50 win of the season and its seventh consecutive victory overall Saturday evening with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 win over Southern Illinois at Hammons Student Center.

The Bears (22-9, 13-5) spoiled SIU's (23-8, 14-4) bid for a share of the MVC regular season title, and enter next week's MVC Tournament in Springfield as the No. 3 seed. MSU takes on No. 6 Loyola at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, with a potential rematch with second-seeded SIU awaiting on Friday evening. Wichita State is the top seed, and is joined by No. 4 UNI and No. 5 Illinois State on the other side of the bracket.

MSU held Southern's MVC-leading offense to a .147 hitting percentage, as senior Kinsey Batten equaled a career high with 19 digs and Emily Butters added 17 to surpass the 500-mark for just the 10th time in school history. Lily Johnson added 10 digs and 17 kills for her 21st double-double of the year.

The first set was tied seven times to 8-8 before the Bears used a 4-0 run and two 5-0 spurts to pull away. Tatum Marshall's ace put MSU up 16-11, and Lauren Boone's kill made it 22-12 as the Bears hit .316 in the set.

Missouri State used another 5-0 run that included two kills and a block by Lynsey Wright to go ahead 10-4 in the second set, and held off a late SIU charge for the win. The Salukis twice pulled within one point, and were met each time by a Johnson kill before sending an attack into the net for a 20-17 MSU advantage. House added a block and kill for 22-18 as the Bears coasted to the win.

MSU played catch-up for most of the third set after trailing 10-6. The Bears cut SIU's lead to two points on six occasions before an Ophoven kill made it 19-18. A Saluki attack error evened the score at 20-apiece, and Johnson had two kills around a pair of SIU errors for a 24-21 advantage. The visitors fought off two match points before Johnson ended it with another kill.