CHICAGO – Missouri State's volleyball team came up on the short end of three close sets in a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 loss at first-place Loyola Saturday afternoon at Gentile Arena.

The Ramblers (16-6, 9-1 Missouri Valley Conference) slowly opened a 15-10 lead in the first set before MSU's Manuela Ibarguen had three of her match-high 16 kills in a 6-1 run to tie the score at 16-all. She added an ace for an 18-17 advantage before the Ramblers countered to a 24-21 lead and converted on their third set point chance.

Loyola used a 7-0 run to lead to lead 12-6 in the second period, and Amelia Flynn had two aces and a kill in a 6-0 run for the Bears (14-8, 5-5) to close to 18-16. Missouri State never got the margin below two points after that and hit .108 in the set.

Missouri State took a 14-10 lead in the third set on Flynn's 1,300th career kill before the Ramblers used a 10-1 run to lead 22-17. The Bears responded with a 4-0 run but could not pull even.

Flynn finished with 11 kills to join Ibarguen in double figures, Morgan Sprague had team highs of 31 assists and eight digs, and Azyah Green led the team with five blocks.

Loyola led 46-37 in kills, .229-.178 in hitting percentage, 46-34 in digs and 8-5 in aces. The Bears won the blocking battle, 7-6.

Missouri State returns home Oct. 29 for a 6 p.m. match with Bradley at Hammons Student Center.