LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Missouri State volleyball team opened play at the Husker Invite Friday with a pair of 3-0 wins against New Mexico and Central Michigan at the Devaney Center, moving to 7-5 on the season ahead of its non-conference finale at fourth-ranked Nebraska set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Bears' defense was stellar in head coach Melissa Stokes's 498th and 499th career victories, combining for 18.5 blocks in the two matches while limiting the opposition to a .045 attack efficiency, including a .000 mark over the day's final five sets.

New Mexico Recap (Missouri State won 25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
Missouri State's defense recorded 11.5 blocks and held the Lobos to a .040 hitting percentage in the final two sets, while the offense showed balance with four players posting at least seven kills.

The Bears played catch-up for the majority of the first set, trailing 7-3 early and 18-14 before taking their first lead during a decisive 9-2 run to a 23-20 lead. Laynie Dake contributed three kills and two blocks during that span, while Chloe Rear and Makina Wratten's block gave MSU its first lead at 21-10. Dake had five kills in the set, and Amelia Flynn added 11 of her 15 digs.

The Lobos (5-5) helped MSU's cause in the second with five service and 10 attack errors, five of which were MSU blocks. The Bears used an 8-1 run to lead 11-6 and never trailed after that, adding a 6-1 scoring spurt for an 18-12 advantage and leading by at least three points for the remainder of the set.

MSU built leads of 10-5 and 12-8 in the third before needing to rally late to complete the sweep. After Aubrey Cheffey's kill made it 18-16, the Lobos went on a 5-1 run to lead 21-19, and kept the margin to 23-21 before the Bears closed by scoring the final four points. Flynn started the run with a kill, Dake's kill earned match point, and Flynn followed with the clinching ace.

Dake had a career-high six blocks and shared the team lead of eight kills with Cheffey and Flynn. Wratten finished with five blocks and Emily Butters had 15 digs. Rear had 30 assists and four blocks. MSU hit .190 in the match compared to .107 for UNM.

Central Michigan Recap (Missouri State won 25-14, 25-15, 25-21)
The Bears frustrated the Chippewas into more attack errors than kills, while Cheffey hit .400 with 11 kills and Dake equaled her career high of six blocks for the second straight match. Flynn added 11 kills, Ashley Ophoven had seven, and Rear dished out 34 assists with nine digs. Butters and Leah Vokolek had 14 digs apiece to help the Bears to a 48-31 lead in that category.

The first set was all Missouri State after the Bears spotted the Chippewas (3-8) the first three points. MSU countered the slow start with a 6-0 run and hit .308 as a team, using 24 digs to hold CMU to a negative hitting percentage in the double-digit win.

The Bears bolted to a 13-4 lead in the second set and kept the margin at six points or higher to the end, using four blocks to help hold the Chippewas to a negative offensive efficiency again.

Missouri State faced more resistance in the third set, but used Ophoven kills to gain three-point leads at 11-8 and 13-10. After CMU tied the set at 13-13, Cheffey swatted consecutive kills to begin a 6-0 run that essentially put the match away. 

The Bears tallied 42 kills in the match on .235 hitting.