CHICAGO – Missouri State tallied 14 blocks, including 11 from sophomore Azyah Green, to earn a 25-15, 26-24, 25-20 road sweep of Loyola Monday afternoon in a battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Bears (12-3, 8-2) solidified their first place MVC standing with the victory, moving two games ahead of Loyola (7-4, 6-4) in the loss column, and held the Ramblers to a .078 attack efficiency.

"Really proud of our team," head coach Steven McRoberts said after his 599th career victory. "Our serving and blocking were absolutely on point today. Loyola is a good team and to get a sweep at their place when we are both fighting for first in the league says a lot about our team and the continuous growth that is taking place. It's definitely nice to leave here still in first place."

Green's 11 blocks are the most for a Missouri State player since the 25-point scoring era began in 2008, and the most for a Bear in a three-set match since Linette White had 13 on Nov. 15, 2003.

Missouri State jumped ahead 9-3 in the first set and kept the margin at four points or better from there, serving four aces in the period and closing on a 7-1 run.

The Bears fell behind 7-3 in the second, led 14-11 after a 6-0 run, and found themselves down 22-20 before rallying for the victory. Green had two blocks and Brooklyn Cink added two of her match-high 13 kills in MSU's closing 6-2 run.

MSU tallied six more blocks in the third set and overcame a 19-16 deficit to complete the sweep, finishing the match on a 9-1 run that including three Amelia Flynn kills and a pair of Green/Lindsay Lahr blocks.  

Missouri State hit .194 in the match, with Kennedee Anderson handing out 33 assists and serving three aces. Teagan Polcovich had 12 digs and Holly Luginbill added 11. Lahr added eight kills on .312 hitting with four blocks.

"The birthday girl went off with 11 blocks," McRoberts added. "Brooklyn and Lindsay were both very efficient today offensively. Overall, Lindsay had a great pair of matches here in Chicago."

The Bears are back on the road next week for a March 14-15 series at Illinois State.