NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State picked up a big five-set road victory at Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Illinois State Friday evening inside Redbird Arena, getting a season-high 17 kills from Manuela Ibarguen and 14 more from Amelia Flynn, who surpassed 1,000 career digs in the contest to become the seventh player in school history with at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

The Bears (11-4, 2-1 MVC) alternated set wins by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 18-25 and 15-11, with Flynn's 16 digs giving the senior her 44th career double-double. Freshman Maddy Bushnell added eight kills on .462 hitting to improve on her league-leading efficiency, and Kate Owen equaled her season high with 19 digs.

"What a great team win! We had a lot of players contribute at some clutch moments when we needed it," head coach Steven McRoberts said after the match. "We really wanted to come in here and have that winning feeling knowing we will be back in two months for the conference tournament. Congratulations to Amelia on a tremendous career achievement of 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs."

The match was a seesaw battle all night and the fifth set was no different with five early ties before the Bears seized control with a 6-1 run to lead 10-6. The Redbirds (5-10, 1-2) closed to 11-10 when Brooklyn Cink tallied two kills and a block to make it 14-11, and ISU missed on its final attack for the Missouri State win.

Missouri State had leads of 10-4 and 18-13 in the first set before ISU pulled even at 18-18, and Ibarguen had three kills down the stretch to aid in the win.

The Redbirds edged out the victory after a 22-all tie in the second, and Missouri State hit .323 in the third, trailing only 5-4 and getting four Flynn kills during a decisive 6-0 run that made the score 15-7.

Illinois State forced a final set by hitting .406 with 16 kills in the fourth, finishing strong from a 13-13 tie.

Each team had one service ace and combined for 26 errors, including 16 by the Redbirds, and ISU led 14-4 in blocks in what was otherwise a statistical dead heat.

Morgan Sprague had 48 assists and 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season, and Azyah Green played a part in three of the Bears' four blocks. Senior Alyssa Doucette had a season-high five kills in two sets.

The Bears visit Bradley (6-8, 2-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday.