NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State opened Missouri Valley Conference volleyball play Friday evening with a 3-0 loss to Illinois State at Redbird Arena.

The Bears and Redbirds began Valley play against each other for the third consecutive season, splitting the two previous such meetings, and last year's regular-season co-champions took the rubber match by set scores of 25-14, 25-15, 25-14.

The Redbirds (8-5, 1-0 MVC) jumped ahead 7-2 in the first set and led by at least four points to the finish, hitting .357 with five blocks while the Bears (3-12, 0-1) had three more attack errors than kills.

MSU's Laynie Dake had four kills and a block on the way to a 9-6 lead in the second set before the home team rallied quickly to an 11-10 advantage. The Bears tied the score twice, but Illinois State closed on a 13-3 run.

The Bears fell behind 9-1 in the third set, cut the gap to four at 12-8, but were unable to get any closer, as the Redbirds regained their eight-point advantage at 16-8 and coasted to the finish line.

Dake led MSU with 10 kills on .304 hitting and five blocks. ISU's Kaylee Martin hit .621 with 20 kills. The Redbirds hit .344 as a team while MSU managed only two more kills than errors.

Missouri State visits Bradley (4-7) at 5 p.m. Saturday.