SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State served 12 aces and used a dominating fourth set to close out Central Arkansas by a 3-1 final Saturday afternoon at Hammons Student Center and finish the fall portion of the schedule 2-0.

The volleyball Bears won the first on-campus athletic event at Missouri State since March by set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 14-25 and 25-9.

"I'm really proud of the team on that fourth set bounce back," head coach Steven McRoberts said after his first home victory. "That's best set we've played in the three matches we've had. We started getting dominant at the net along with our serving, and when you can combine those two things it's a recipe for a lot of points and a lot of wins, so just really proud of the bounce back after the 3rd set and happy to be 2-0."

Amelia Flynn had two kills and an ace in a 7-0 run in the first set that gave the Bears the lead for good at 10-5, and another 5-0 spurt pushed the margin to 18-10 and allowed MSU to coast home for the early lead.

The Bears broke open the second frame with a 7-1 run to turn a 14-all tie into a 21-15 advantage, but Central Arkansas (0-3) remained alive by hitting .625 in the third period to extend the match.

Undeterred, Missouri State flipped the script in the fourth set, hitting .455 as a team and holding the Sugar Bears to a negative attack efficiency. MSU served five aces in the set, including Kennedee Anderson with three of her four in the contest, while Azyah Green added four blocks in the final stanza.

Flynn finished with 16 kills and a team-high 11 digs for her 24th career double-double, and Brooklyn Cink followed close behind with 15 kills. Cink added four more aces after entering the match as the nation's leader in aces per set. Green finished with seven kills and six blocks.

The Bears hit .212 compared to .272 for UCA but owned a 6-4 lead in blocks and 12-2 lead in aces while trailing just 50-49 in total kills.

Missouri State will be back in action in the spring semester with a full Missouri Valley Conference schedule. The league slate will be finalized in the coming weeks, and the NCAA recently announced play dates for the 2021 spring season that run from Jan. 22-April 10.