SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State fought off four Bradley match points Friday evening to escape with a 3-2 victory and maintain first-place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, extending its win streak to 10 consecutive matches overall and 25 straight in the MVC.
The Bears (17-5, 9-0) won the final two sets en route to a 25-17, 20-25, 19-25, 25-14, 19-17 victory, and are now off to the second-best MVC start in school history behind the 2003 club, which won its first 15 conference matches.
Missouri State had a pair of 8-1 runs in the first set and held the Braves (8-16, 1-9) to a .000 hitting efficiency for a 1-0 lead, but watched Bradley turn the tables and pile up 33 kills on .302 hitting over the next two periods to get one set away from victory.
The Bears rolled to a .382 attack efficiency in the fourth set on the strength of seven kills from
Lily Johnson and five more from
Aubrey Cheffey, and carried the momentum into the final period for an 8-4 lead on a Johnson ace.
The Braves came charging back, taking their first lead at 11-10 and gaining match point at 14-12 after Erica Haslag swatted her 29th and 30th kills of the match in succession. Cheffey's kill tied the set at 14 and Johnson followed for a 15-all tie before Cheffey and
Mikaela Mosquera earned a block for a 16-15 lead. The Braves countered to lead 17-16 when Mosquera scored the tying kill, Cheffey followed for match point, and
Lynsey Wright teamed with
Cambree Villarreal for the winning block.
Johnson led the Bears with 22 kills and 21 digs for her fourth career 20/20 match, Wright hit .314 with 16 kills and Cheffey added 12 winners.
Brianne Dixon lifted a career-high 19 digs and
Emily Butters finished with 24.
MSU matched a season high with 14 blocks and hit .232 compared to .182 for the Braves. BU owned leads of 69-67 in kills and 107-97 in total digs.
Missouri State hosts Illinois State (14-9, 7-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday. Fans are encouraged to arrive early and tell parking attendants they are attending the volleyball match as there is a concert at JQH Arena on Saturday evening.
