SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State was on the wrong end of one of the longest matches in Missouri Valley Conference Tournament history Thursday, falling to fourth-seeded Valparaiso in five sets at Hammons Student Center.

The Bears completed their 20th consecutive winning season with a 17-15 record after losing by set scores of 17-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 9-15. Valpo (25-9) advanced to Friday's semifinal round to take on No. 1 UNI.

Missouri State committed 11 attack errors in the first set to fall behind 1-0, but used a late charge from Amelia Flynn to win the second, as the freshman had five kills after an 18-18 tie to give the Bears a 25-20 win.

Valpo closed third set on a 3-0 run for a two-point win, and the Bears came back once again to win the fourth, taking the lead for good with back-to-back kills from Laynie Dake to pull away from a 12-12 tie. MSU led by as many as five points, and the Crusaders closed to 24-23 before Dake slammed one of her career-high 19 kills for the win.

The Bears jumped ahead 4-1 in the fifth, but Valpo countered with a 9-1 run to lead 10-5. MSU pulled to 11-9 with one of its 11 blocks, only to see VU rattle off four consecutive points to win the match.

Flynn added 18 kills for MSU and 14 digs for her 12th double-double, Chloe Rear handed out a career-high 61 assists, and Emily Butters scooped 32 digs. 

MSU had a season-high 70 kills and hit .177 compared to .201 for Valpo. The Bears also held leads of 95-92 in digs, 11-10 in blocks and 4-1 in aces.

End of season notes: Missouri State has now finished above .500 both overall and in MVC matches for 20 consecutive seasons...Emily Butters served as MSU's libero for all 513 sets of her career, finishing seventh in NCAA history for consecutive sets played and 16th with 2,482 digs...Saturday was the senior's seventh career match with 30-plus digs, an MSU record...Butters tallied 599 digs in 2018, giving her the Nos. 1, 5, 7 and 8 single seasons in MSU history, while she also owns the school's season and career dig average records...Amelia Flynn's 380 kills rank second to only Lily Johnson among freshmen in MSU history, while her 3.36 average ranks third...Chloe Rear was the third MSU freshman with 1,000 or more assists, ending the year with 1,166...Missouri State's senior class finished their careers with a 95-41 record, and 57-15 mark in MVC play.