SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State's 2023 volleyball season came to an end Monday evening at the hands of a red-hot UIC squad in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship at Hammons Student Center.

The seventh-seeded Bears (16-16) fell in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-16, with No. 3 UIC (21-11) hitting .301 in the contest. Despite the loss, Missouri State finished the season strong with wins in seven of its final 11 matches.

The Bears never lead in either of the first two sets, as the Flames hit .375 in the opening period. Deja Bickers led MoState with five kills in the first set on the way to a team-high nine without an error in the match.

UIC jumped ahead 8-2 in the second and withstood an MSU run that brought the Bears as close as 10-9, ending with 20 kills in the period. Missouri State earned its first lead of the match at 3-2 in the third, but that was met with a 6-0 run by the Flames, who added a second such run later on to lead 22-11 and put the match away.

Morgan Sprague collected her 16th double-double of the year with 23 assists and a team-best 17 digs. Lindsay Lahr led the team with four blocks, and MSU hit .152 as an offense.

End of season notes: Azyah Green ended her five-year career ranked fourth in MSU history in total blocks (592), second in sets (561), seventh in matches (146) and 11th in block average (1.06/set)…She also ranks sixth in MVC history in block assists (512)…Teagan Polcovich concluded her career ranked seventh in school history in total digs (1,475) and third in average (3.99/set)…Polcovich's 2023 totals of 586 digs and a 4.80 per set average both rank seventh on the Bears' single-season lists…Head coach Steven McRoberts ends the year ranked 11th among active Division I coaches with 644 career wins…Junior Kate Owen collected her 1,000th career dig in the MVC Tournament first round and ends the year ranked 24th on MSU's career list….Junior Morgan Sprague finished the season ranked fifth in school history with 2,938 career assists…Missouri State went 11-6 at home for its 44th winning record in 47 seasons at Hammons Student Center, and the Bears picked up the program's 500th win at the facility in the MVC Tournament first round victory against Illinois State.