Final Stats

SPRINGFIELD -- Simone House tallied a career-high 18 kills on a .533 attack percentage, and Lily Johnson added 22 kills and 18 digs to lead the Missouri State volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over visiting Indiana State Saturday evening at Hammons Student Center.

The Bears (11-4, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) won by set scores of 21-25, 25-17, 25-12, 15-25 and 15-6, while the Sycamores fell to 11-6 and 0-2 in league matches.

After the Sycamores hit .324 as a team to win the fourth set by 10 points, it was Missouri State that had all the momentum in the fifth period, opening up a 6-2 lead behind three early kills from Johnson. The Bears then ripped off a 5-0 run with Johnson on serve to lead 11-3, and finished off the win with Tatum Marshall's third ace of the contest.

Indiana State took advantage of 10 MSU attack errors to claim the first set, and then jumped ahead 8-3 in the second before the Bears rallied to even the match. Missouri State used runs of 5-0 and 7-0 to open up an 18-12 lead, and closed on a 4-0 spurt as Johnson provided six kills in the 25-17 win.

House dominated the third set with six kills on eight swings, including four during an 8-0 run that put the Bears ahead 12-3. Missouri State hit .312 with 15 kills in the period, leading by as many as 14 points and limiting the Sycamores to five kills.

Johnson's double-double was her 10th of the season, and her 22 kills marked the 13th match of 20 or more in her career. Elise Munroe scooped a season-high 20 digs for the Bears, and was joined in double figures by Emily Butters (14), Tatum Marshall (11) and Kinsey Batten (12), who dished out 52 assists.

Missouri State owned leads of 59-44 in digs, .188-.129 in hitting percentage, 84-64 in digs and 9-2 in aces.

MSU begins a four-match road trip with a 7 p.m. match at preseason MVC favorite Wichita State on Friday, Oct. 2.