SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State and Drake battled for two hours, 47 minutes Saturday evening at Hammons Student Center with the visiting Bulldogs eventually prevailing in five sets in a battle between clubs that entered the contest tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

Missouri State (5-11, 2-2 MVC) finished with season highs of 68 kills and 11 aces and was one shy of the digs high with 97, but Drake (12-5, 3-1) matched the Bears point for point with set scores of 26-24, 24-26, 17-25, 29-27, 15-12.

Manuela Ibarguen led all players with 20 kills, while Lucca Dunser, Azyah Green and Iva Halacheva added 12 apiece for MSU. Morgan Sprague equaled a season high with 55 assists, Katie Wemhoener served four aces, and both Kate Owen (23) and Dunser (20) eclipsed the 20-dig mark.

The opening set had several wild momentum swings, including an 8-1 run for the Bears and 7-1 run for the Bulldogs. After all that, MSU held set point at 24-23 before DU closed with two kills and an ace.

Missouri State escaped the second after Drake fended off five set points, then dug 22 balls in the third period to hold DU to .089 hitting and grab a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set included 14 ties and nine lead changes, and the Bears even held a match point at 26-25. A Drake kill spoiled that, and the Bulldogs took advantage of two MSU errors after 27-27 to extend the contest.

The Bears trailed 10-6 in the fifth and tied at 10-10 before surrendering two kills and an ace to Drake that gave the Bulldogs the cushion needed to side out for the win.

Missouri State is back on the road next weekend at Indiana State and Evansville.