EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri State went five sets for the third straight match and beyond 15 points in the final period for the second consecutive evening Saturday at Evansville, but fell to the Purple Aces by scores of 17-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-27, 15-17 at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

The Aces (6-14, 3-3 MVC) spoiled three MSU match points on the night – one in the fourth set and two in the fifth – to hand the Bears (5-13, 2-4) their third consecutive five-set defeat.

Manuela Ibarguen picked up her sixth consecutive double-double in the loss with 23 kills and 11 digs, while Iva Halacheva added 14 kills and Azyah Green had 12 on .308 hitting.

Ibarguen had four kills and an ace in a wild final period that saw Evansville take a 4-1 lead before an ace from the MSU senior made it 8-6 Bears. She added consecutive kills for 13-11 and another to gain match point at 14-12. Evansville rattled off two kills and an ace for a match point of its own at 15-14, then appeared to win 16-14 when a review of a net violation resulted in a replay of the point. Ibarguen's kill tied the set at 15-all before Evansville Giulia Cardona hit back-to-back kills for the UE win.

Evansville combined for 33 kills and just four errors to hit .426 in the first and fourth sets and fended off an MSU match point chance at 24-23 in the fourth despite hitting .514 with 21 kills in the period.

The MSU offense was clicking in the second and third, hitting .358 as a unit while the defense held Evansville to .167 or below in both set victories.

Missouri State hit .243 in the contest compared to .276 for Evansville and served 10 aces against four errors. UE held a 13-3 blocking lead.

After posting 24 kills Friday at Indiana State, Ibarguen is the first MSU player since Lily Johnson in September 2017 with 23-plus kills in consecutive matches. Evansville's Alondra Vasquez led the Aces with 31 kills.

The Bears have now played four or more sets in nine consecutive matches.

Missouri State returns to Hammons Student Center Oct. 14 and 15 to face Murray State and Belmont.