COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Missouri State rallied from a pair of deficits to beat Texas A&M in five sets Friday evening at Reed Arena, rebounding from a 3-0 loss to Pepperdine earlier in the day to finish in a three-way tie with the Aggies and Waves atop the Texas A&M Invitational standings with a 2-1 record in the event.

The A&M victory served as the 27th for the Bears (5-5) over a Power Five school under Melissa Stokes, including six since the beginning of the 2016 season.

Freshman Makina Wratten earned all-tournament honors for the Bears.

Missouri State's road trip continues next Friday and Saturday at the Husker Invite in Lincoln, Neb., with matches against New Mexico, Central Michigan, and No. 7 Nebraska.

Pepperdine Recap (Pepperdine won 25-15, 25-16, 25-18)
Pepperdine served 13 aces and hit .292 to hand the Bears a rare 3-0 loss.

The Waves (6-3) led throughout each of the first two sets, opening with 2-0 leads and using sizable runs to distance themselves from the Bears. Pepperdine used a 5-0 spurt to lead 17-8 in the first, hitting .423 with four blocks, then rattled off runs of 6-0 and 5-0 in the second, leading by at least four points for the balance of the set after going ahead 9-5.

Missouri State gained its first lead of the match at 3-2 in the third, and the set was tied nine times with four lead changes to a 13-13 deadlock. It was all Pepperdine from there, as the Waves used a 10-1 run to lead 23-14 and closed out the sweep a few points later.

Amelia Flynn led the Bears with nine kills, Emily Butters had 13 digs, and Wratten hit .500 with three blocks. MSU hit .125 as a team and trailed 42-26 in kills, 43-33 in digs and 7-6 in blocking.

Texas A&M Recap (Missouri State won 11-25, 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 15-11)
Missouri State rallied numerous times to upset the Aggies, coming up with big runs late in the final two sets to secure the win. 

After a decisive A&M (6-3) victory in the first, the Bears built four-point leads at 11-7 and 19-15 in the second set, only to see the Aggies pull even each time and briefly take a 21-20 advantage. Aubrey Cheffey landed back-to-back kills to regain the lead at 23-22, Flynn's kill made it set point at 24-23, and the freshman served the winning ace shortly thereafter.

A&M used an early 6-0 run in the third set to pave the way for another comfortable win, and led 19-17 in the fourth before the Bears mounted an 8-0 run to even the match. Missouri State's first lead of the period came on freshman Leah Vokolek's ace for a 20-19 score, and Cheffey and Flynn each added two more kills from there to force a fifth set.

The final period featured seven ties and six lead changes, the last of each coming during a 6-0 run by the Bears that included three blocks, with Wratten playing a part in each one. Cheffey's kill earned a match point at 14-10, A&M pulled to 14-11 a kill, and a video review resulted in replaying the next point. Rather than the original play going the Aggies' way for a 14-12 score, the home team missed an attack on the second try to hand MSU the 15-11 victory.

Six Bears had six or more kills, with Flynn (13), Ashley Ophoven (11) and Cheffey (10) reaching double figures. Dake hit .533 with nine kills, and Wratten had seven kills without an error while adding six blocks.

Butters scooped 19 digs, moving up to seventh on the Missouri Valley Conference career list, and Vokolek added a season-best 17 digs. Rear dished out 47 assists and had 11 digs for the double-double.

Missouri State hit .240 as a team compared to .292 for A&M and trailed 72-60 in kills, while the teams were nearly even in most other statistical categories.