Volleyball Heads North to Face Drake and UNI

Missouri State at Drake/UNI
Dates and Times	Nov. 11, 6 p.m. at Drake (22-6, 13-2) Nov. 12, 5 p.m. at UNI (22-6, 15-0)
Locations	Des Moines, Iowa \| Cedar Falls, Iowa
Sites	Knapp Center \| McLeod Center
ESPN3	Drake \| UNI
Live Stats	Drake \| UNI
Missouri State	Match Notes \| Volleyball Home Page
Drake	Volleyball Home Page
UNI	Volleyball Home Page

Storylines for the Weekend
1) Missouri State begins a tough closing stretch to the regular season in Iowa this week with visits to Drake (22-6, 13-2) at 6 p.m. Friday and UNI (22-6, 15-0) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Bears are holding on to the eighth and final spot in the MVC Tournament, and face the top three teams in the standings in their final three matches.

2) The Bears have played beyond three sets in 18 of 27 matches this season with 10 matches going the distance. MSU is averaging 4.04 sets per match this year and have only eclipsed 4.0 on one other other occasion, the 2020-21 season at 4.18. In MVC matches, MSU averages 4.13 sets with seven five-setters in 15 outings.

3) Senior Manuela Ibarguen has six matches with 20-plus kills this season, including four in MVC play. Those four came in succession from Oct. 1-14, making her the first MSU player since Joleen Meservy in 1997 with four straight 20-kill matches.

4) The Bears rank 58th nationally with 15.72 digs per set and 17th in total digs. Those numbers come from a balanced defensive effort with five players averaging at least 1.92 digs per set.

5) Missouri State is hitting .247 over its last eight matches and .247 or better in six of those after only hitting above that level once in the first 19 contests of the season.

6) Despite a 6-9 league record, the Bears have a 32-30 record in MVC sets and have an aggregate point score of plus-77 over the opposition, including more total points in three of the team's losses, and have owned at least one match point in nine MVC matches. Six of MSU's nine MVC losses came in five sets.The Bears have been outscored by more than four total points in a match just four times and are 6-16 in 22 sets decided by two points, including four such fifth sets.

7) Senior Azyah Green has led MSU in blocking each of her first three seasons and is on pace to do so again this year. All-American Linette White is the last Bear to lead the club three years in a row, doing so in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The last player to lead the team in four consecutive years was Mindy Struckhoff from 1985-88. Green ranks ninth in school history with 453 career blocks and 11th with a 1.06 per set average. Both totals are the highest for any player who played exclusively in the 25-point scoring era (since 2008).

8) MSU has notched the top two ace averages since the 25-point scoring era began in the last two seasons, posting 1.61 per set in 2020-21 and 1.38 last season, and this year's average sits above both at 1.63, which would be the program's best since 1995. The 2022 MSU roster has served a combined 306 aces in the Maroon and White, and the Bears rank 20th nationally this season with 178 total aces.

Series Histories
Missouri State owns a 66-11 series lead on Drake. The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings after the Bears took 42 of the previous 43.
UNI holds a 56-28 lead in the all-time series, though Missouri State has won eight of the last 15 meetings with the Panthers.

First Meetings This Season
The Bears lost a pair of tight matches when this week's opponents visited Springfield. MSU had four players with at least 12 kills, led by Manuela Ibarguen's 20, and the Bears held match point in the fourth before Drake won 29-27 and 15-12 in the fifth on Oct. 1.
The night before, MSU nearly pushed UNI to five sets in 3-1 loss. Ibarguen had 15 kills and 12 digs, and Azyah Green hit .615 with eight kills and eight blocks.

Volleyball Heads North to Face Drake and UNI

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Players Mentioned

Azyah Green

Manuela Ibarguen

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