CARBONDALE, Ill. – Missouri State posted its third-highest attack efficiency of the season Monday evening at Southern Illinois, hitting between .281 and .308 in each set and .295 for the match, but the Salukis hit .321 and finished plus-18 in kills for a 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 sweep of the Bears at Davies Gym.

Deja Bickers hit .556 with 11 kills for MSU and Lucca Dunser hit .320 with 10 kills as the Bears reached the midway point of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule at 3-6 in league play and 6-15 overall.

SIU (14-7, 7-2) moved into a tie for second in the Valley standings and served 10 aces on the night with 52 kills. The Salukis used a late 5-1 run to pull away from an 18-18 tie in the first set and led by at least three points for the duration of the second set after a 7-2 start.

The third set was tied nine times early and Dunser had two kills in a 3-0 MSU run to put the Bears up 13-11. Bickers added two kills in a 4-0 spurt to 20-15 and another for 21-17, but the Salukis charged back and closed out the match with three kills and an ace after trailing 23-21.

Morgan Sprague had 27 assists for the Bears, Kate Owen led with eight digs and Iva Halacheva and Lindsay Lahr had two blocks each. Lahr, who was announced as MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, also served a pair of aces and has 10 in her last three matches after just two in her first 39 matches at MSU.

The Bears are back home Friday and Saturday to face Valparaiso and league newcomer UIC.