PEORIA, Ill. -- Missouri State reached the midpoint of the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball schedule Friday evening, dropping a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21) decision to Bradley at Renaissance Coliseum.

Missouri State (11-11, 4-5 MVC) fell behind 4-0 in the first set and trailed by multiple points for the remainder of the period. The Bears fought off four set points before succumbing to Bradley's 16th kill. 

The Bears built a 7-2 lead in the second set and maintained the five-point advantage to 12-7. Bradley (17-5, 7-3) rallied for a 17-15 lead, and Amelia Flynn put Missouri State back on top 20-19 after back-to-back kills. A BU attack error followed, and the teams sided out until MacKenzie Irwin's kill earned a set point at 24-21. The Braves spoiled three set points for a 24-all tie, but the Bears recovered with an Izzy Gibbany ace for the 26-24 win, hitting .441 as a team with 17 kills.

MSU fell behind 2-0 in the third set and never led, despite a late run after Bradley went up 16-11. A 4-0 Missouri State run capped by blocks from Chloe Rear and Alyssa Doucette pulled the Bears to 18-17, and a Flynn kill again cut the gap to one at 19-18. The Braves responded with three straight kills and led by two-plus points the rest of the way.

Bradley broke open the fourth set with a 6-0 run to lead 13-7, and pushed the margin to 20-12 before the Bears started a comeback, getting as close as 24-21 before the Braves scored a kill to secure the match.

Flynn tallied her seventh double-double of the season with 15 kills and 16 digs, and Aubrey Cheffey hit .393 with 13 kills. Rear filled the stat sheet with five kills, 44 assists, eight digs and four blocks. Emily Butters lifted 17 digs.

Missouri State hit .229 compared to .253 for Bradley, and the Braves owned a 69-51 advantage in total kills.

The loss was Missouri State's first road October setback in nearly 1,100 days.

The Bears play at Illinois State (17-5, 9-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Redbirds swept Southern Illinois on Friday.