COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Missouri State volleyball team rebounded from a five-set loss to Lipscomb Saturday morning by sweeping Oakland in the afternoon match to complete a 2-1 weekend and claim the tournament championship at the  D.C. Koehl Classic hosted by Ohio State. 

The Bears won the tournament title after winning the tiebreak with Lipscomb and Ohio State based on an 8-4 record in sets, with senior Lynsey Wright earning tournament MVP honors, and Emily Butters and Lily Johnson joining her on the all-tournament team.

Each of those three players reached career milestones Saturday as well, with Wright becoming the 21st member of MSU's 1,000-kill club in the Oakland match, Butters joining Missouri State's career top 10 in total digs in just the fifth match of her junior season, and Johnson surpassing 1,800 career kills in the Lipscomb contest.

The Bears, now 4-2 on the season, visit Pepperdine Sept. 8 and 9 for matches against Wyoming, No. 8 Washington and the host Waves in Malibu, Calif. Missouri State opens the home schedule with the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational, Sept. 14-16 at Hammons Student Center, with Illinois, Washington State, Chattanooga and Tennessee State making up a star-studded field.

Lipscomb Recap (LIP won 23-25, 11-25, 25-19, 26-24, 15-10)
It was a tale of two matches in the morning contest against the Bisons, with the Bears taking the first two sets before Lipscomb rallied for the five-set win.

MSU took advantage of 10 Lipscomb attack errors to overcome a 20-18 deficit in the first set for the two-point win, then bolted to a 12-4 lead in the second period and cruised to the win. The Bears led by at least seven points for the remainder of the set, hitting .379 compared to -.030 for the Bisons, and Aubrey Cheffey posted five kills and two blocks in the second frame.

Lipscomb grabbed early leads in each of the final three sets, jumping ahead 13-5 in the third, 10-5 in the fourth and 6-1 in the fifth. The Bears challenged in the fourth set, taking a 22-21 lead on consecutive Johnson kills before the Bisons went on a 3-0 run to gain set point and hit consecutive kills for the win after MSU tied at 24-24. In the final set, the Bears got as close as 12-9, but the Bisons hit .529 with 10 kills. In all, MSU hit just .156 over the final three sets compared to .290 in the first two, with Lipscomb recording 11 of its 15 blocks during its winning sets.

Johnson (15), Wright (13), Cheffey (11) and Ashley Ophoven (10) all reached double figures in kills, and Lauren Boone added nine without an error on 19 swings. MSU hit .211 in the match while Lipscomb hit .177, and Cheffey and MacKenzie Irwin each equaled career highs with five blocks. Butters led the way with 22 digs, cracking Missouri State's career top 10 in the process.

Oakland Recap (MSU won 25-18, 25-20, 25-23)
The Bears earned their first sweep of the season, hitting .283 as a team and surrendering just one service ace, the fifth time in six matches on the year the opponents have served two or fewer aces.

Wright's milestone kill came during a 7-0 run in the first set that put the Bears ahead 10-6, and MSU never trailed again, hitting .519 with 17 kills on 27 swings. Another early run, this time 5-0, put MSU up 10-6 in the second set before Oakland battled back to lead 16-13. The Bears rattled off a 6-0 run in response that included a kill from each of its senior hitters to lead 19-16, and led by multiple points to the 25-20 final.

The Bears never trailed in the third set, scoring the first four points and leading 11-3 when the Golden Grizzlies used their second timeout. It was 15-7 when Oakland made a furious comeback, cutting the lead to one at 16-15 and tying the score three times, the last at 19-19. Johnson answered the final tie with a kill and added another for 22-20, and the teams sided out to a Wright kill for the two-point win.

Johnson paced the offense with 14 kills and two errors to hit .400, and Wright hit .467 with nine kills. Butters had 18 digs, and Emelie Orlando dished out 22 assists.