SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State's volleyball team completed its three-match unbeaten run through the annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational with a pair of wins Saturday at Hammons Student Center, sweeping Grambling State in the afternoon before earning a 3-1 win over Ball State in the evening match to claim the tournament crown.

Aubrey Cheffey blitzed Ball State with a career-high 18 kills on .444 hitting to earn tournament MVP honors, and was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammates Laynie Dake and Chloe Rear, BSU's Kate Avila and Sydney VanBeek, Tori Roe of Oral Roberts and Grambling's L'Muriell Thrower.

MSU senior libero Emily Butters had a memorable tournament of her own, becoming the 10th player in Missouri Valley Conference history with 2,000 career digs Saturday evening, finishing the match with 2,003 for ninth place on the league's career list. Her 32 digs against the Cardinals equalled the 10th-best single-match total in school history, tied her with Cara Hackmann for the most career double-figure dig matches at MSU with 101, and evened her with Adeana McAfee's school record of five career matches with 30-plus digs.

Missouri State (3-3) is back on the road for a busy week, visiting Kansas State on Tuesday, Sept 4 at 6 p.m., and traveling to Texas A&M's tournament on Sept. 6 and 7.

Grambling Recap (Missouri State won 25-10, 25-14, 25-21)
The Bears hit .378 as a team, with Makina Wratten (11), Dake (10) and Alyssa Doucette (8) all posting career high kill totals, and Ashley Ophoven scooping a career-best eight digs to go along with nine kills. All four players also hit .368 or higher.

MSU hit .536 in the first set after six players finished with multiple kills, including four each from Wratten and Cheffey. The Bears led 9-3 in the second set after a 7-0 run, went up 14-5 on Ophoven's fourth kill of the frame, and pushed the lead to 22-10 after a 6-0 run with Natali Petrova at the service line.

Six players had multiple kills again in the third set, helping the Bears pull away from a 16-15 lead late in the period. Missouri State finished with 51 kills in the match compared to 22 for the Lady Tigers, and tallied 48 digs to help limit Grambling to a .105 hitting percentage.

Daniele Messa became the eighth MSU player with 2,500 career assists and added a match-high nine digs. Dake participated in three of the Bears' four blocks and served a pair of aces.

Ball State Recap (Missouri State won 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 25-17)
Missouri State held the Mid-American Conference West Division favorites to a .095 attack efficiency, Cheffey had career highs of 18 kills and six blocks, Amelia Flynn posted a double-double with 13 kills and 17 digs, and Butters scooped 32 digs to pass the 2,000 mark for her career.

The Bears took the first-set lead for good with a 5-0 run to lead 16-11, and went up 23-18 on Cheffey's fifth kill before the Cardinals cut the margin to 23-21. A BSU error followed by Flynn's fifth kill sealed the win.

MSU never trailed in the second set, leading 9-4 on Messa's ace before Cheffey took over. After Ball State closed to 16-14, Cheffey countered with three kills and three blocks down the stretch for the 2-0 match lead.

Ball State hit .361 in the third set and used a late 4-0 run to gain a 23-17 lead for enough cushion to extend the match. Missouri State immediately answered in the fourth, going ahead 6-1 on another Messa ace and leading by at least four points the rest of the way.

The Bears hit .184 in the match, scoring 59 kills compared to 43 for the Cardinals, and owned a 82-72 lead in digs. Gerri Idos matched a career high with 12 digs, and Rear dished out a season-best 37 assists.