SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State completed its non-conference volleyball schedule Saturday with losses to two-time defending Ohio Valley champion Austin Peay and preseason Mid-American West Division favorite Ball State at BSU's Active Ankle Challenge inside Worth Arena.
Laynie Dake earned all-tournament honors with averages of 2.55 kills and 0.82 blocks per set in three matches.
The Bears (3-11) begin Missouri Valley Conference next weekend with a trip to Illinois State and Bradley.
Austin Peay Recap (APSU won 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 24-26, 15-13)
Chloe Rear (21) and
Alyssa Doucette (11) both posted career high kill totals, and
Kennedee Anderson and
Emelie Orlando handed out career highs of 27 assists apiece in a match that ultimately turned into a race to four points.
The Bears rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set, where they had to rally again from an 8-6 hole to tie the score at 11-all. The Governors used a 3-0 run to gain match point, Doucette had a kill and
Laynie Dake followed with an ace to keep MSU alive before APSU finished off the win with a kill.
Missouri State led 8-2 in the first set and 11-8 in the second before the Austin Peay offense tallied 34 kills in the first two periods for a pair of comeback wins.
The Bears hit .324 in the third set and had a key 4-0 run to pull away from a 20-all tie, and fought off an APSU match point in the fourth to extend the match.
The match was nearly a statistical dead heat, with MSU leading .251-.243 in attack percentage and 12-7 blocking, while the Govs led 69-68 in kills and 74-61 in digs. Each side served seven aces.
Sarabi Worsley-Gilbert hit .550 with 12 kills for MSU, and Dake added 11 kills with a team-high six blocks.
Leah Vokolek had 22 digs, and Rear and Anderson had two aces each. Austin Peay (2-11) got 29 kills and 22 digs from Brooke Anderson.
Ball State Recap (BSU won 25-16, 25-18, 25-16)
Ball State (6-6) hit .267 and served 11 aces, and led the first set 17-9 before its first attack error, hitting .353 with five aces in the opening period despite MSU's
Aubrey Cheffey and
Laynie Dake each recording four kills without an error.
The second set featured seven ties to a 9-9 score, and the Bears led 10-9 before the Cardinals went on an 8-1 run to take control. The third set turned on another big Ball State run, this time 10-1 after MSU led 5-2, as the Bears hit below .035 for the second straight set as the Cardinals completed the win.
Dake hit .318 with a team-high 11 kills for the Bears, who hit .099 as a team.
Leah Vokolek scooped 13 digs and
Azyah Green had six blocks.
