VALPARAISO, Ind. – Missouri State's volleyball team refused to go down without a fight Friday evening, staving off multiple Valparaiso match point chances before ultimately falling to the Crusaders by set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 28-26 to begin the third weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play.

Valpo (7-12, 2-3) opened the first set on a 4-0 run and led 17-9 before Missouri State's initial kill of the match. The Crusaders held MSU to a negative hitting percentage in the period, though the Bears tallied four blocks.

The Crusaders built a 16-8 lead in the second set and were challenged by a 5-0 Missouri State run that included three kills and a block from Amelia Flynn for an 18-15 score. Aubrey Cheffey added a kill and a block in succession to pull the Bears to 22-20, but Valpo countered with consecutive scores and won two points after that.

The Bears (4-15, 1-4) led for much of the third set, starting with a 6-1 run to 8-5, and then using a 5-0 spurt to go ahead 21-17. A wild finish ensued from there, with MSU owning a set point at 24-23, then spoiling a pair of Valpo match point chances before the Crusaders finally converted for the sweep.

Flynn led the MSU offense with nine kills, while Gerri Idos scooped a career-high 18 digs, including the 500th of her career. Chloe Rear had 17 assists, 14 digs and a team-high four blocks.

Missouri State had 10 blocks on the night but hit .068 as a team with 24 errors. The Crusaders mustered just a .140 attack efficiency, and finished with leads of 39-32 in kills, 58-52 in digs and 4-3 in aces.

The Bears visit Loyola (12-6, 5-0) at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Ramblers beat Southern Illinois 3-1 on Friday.