SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State tallied a season-high 12 blocks, including seven from Azyah Green to make her the fifth player in school history to surpass 500 in a career, as MoState opened the Bear Invitational Thursday evening with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22) victory over Lindenwood to come out on top in the first-ever meeting between the in-state foes.

Freshman Breanah Rives matched a career high with 14 kills and scooped 11 digs for the double-double, Maddy Bushnell had 10 kills, and Teagan Polcovich totaled 25 digs. Josie Halbleib and Lindsay Lahr added five blocks each, and Halbleib stuffed the stat sheet with 40 assists, seven digs and seven kills, including the final two MoState (5-5) points of the match.

The Bears hit .348 with 18 kills in the opening set, but the Lions (4-6) did one better with 19 kills on .381 hitting for the narrow win.

Thanks in large part to five blocks in the second period, the Bears were able to overcome a 17-11 kill deficit to even the contest, then pulled away from a 20-20 score in the third for the lead, taking advantage of 12 LU attack errors.

The fourth set was tied 10 times to 22-all when a Lindenwood service error gave MoState the lead and Halbleib sealed it with consecutive kills.

The Bears continue the tournament Friday at 6 p.m. against Western Illinois.