SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State took down the Missouri Valley Conference leader in total victories in straight sets Friday evening at Hammons Student Center with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 win against visiting Valparaiso.

The Bears hit .276 with 49 kills, eight aces and nine blocks and are hitting .303 in their last three matches. Deja Bickers led the way with 16 kills, Iva Halacheva had 11 on .348 hitting, and Lucca Dunser and Lindsay Lahr finished with eight apiece.

"We played really solid all the way around," said head coach Steven McRoberts. "Everything seemed to be clicking tonight, just a good all-around effort."

Missouri State (7-15, 4-6 MVC) sandwiched a pair of 8-2 runs around a 6-0 Valpo spurt to lead 16-10 in the first set and kept the Beacons (17-5, 5-5) at bay the rest of the way, hitting .300 with three aces and four blocks with Halacheva landing five error-free kills on .625 hitting.

"This team has shown up every day, worked hard and had a great attitude," McRoberts added. "I'm really happy for them that we got this win and hope we can get a little momentum here late in the season."

Bickers started 6-for-6 on the attack in the second set to help the Bears lead 15-9 and MSU held off a late Valpo charge as the Beacons fought off four set points before Halacheva and Lahr teamed up for the winning block.

Five different Bears had at least three kills and MSU hit .359 in the period in a wire-to-wire win.

Morgan Sprague had 42 assists and a pair of aces, Kate Owen served two aces with 19 digs, and Lahr led the way with five blocks. MSU led 49-39 in kills, .276-.197 in hitting percentage, 59-53 in digs, 9-5 in blocks and 8-2 in aces.

Missouri State hosts UIC (14-8, 6-4) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Flames won 3-2 at Southern Illinois on Friday.