CHICAGO – Missouri State began its four-match road trip with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 24-26, 21-25) loss at UIC Friday evening inside Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
Maddy Bushnell hit .321 with a team-high 13 kills, Morgan Sprague collected her 12^th double-double of the year with 18 assists and 12 digs, and Kate Owen surpassed 1,300 career digs and climbed to ninth place on the school's all-time list.
 
UIC (12-6, 4-2 Missouri Valley Conference) held the Bears (7-11, 1-5) to .119 hitting thanks in large part to 17 blocks, with 11 of those coming from the league leader in that category, Zahria Woodard.
 
The Flames had five of those blocks in the first set and used a 10-0 run to lead 14-3. The Bears clawed back to 21-16 before UIC closed on a 4-0 run.
 
MoState got the offense going in the second period with 15 kills to .317 hitting. The Bears jumped ahead 11-5 and went up 19-12 on a Kya Johnson ace on the way to tying the match at a set apiece. Bushnell, Rilynn Finley and Aniya Joseph each tallied four kills and combined for a .440 attack efficiency.
 
After falling behind 3-0 in the third set, the Bears used an 11-3 run to gain a five-point lead and extended it to 16-10 before UIC rattled off seven points in a row. Bushnell had a kill and a block to fight off two set points and force a 24-all tie, and the Flames answered with two kills for the win.
 
The Bears again got out early in the fourth with a 9-5 lead, but the Flames had yet another late run in them, this time a 5-0 spurt for a 20-17 advantage that proved too much for MSU to overcome.
 
UIC owned leads of 55-49 in kills and 75-66 in digs. The Bears finished with eight blocks and seven aces.
 
The Bears visit Valparaiso (9-9, 1-5) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Beacons lost 3-1 to Southern Illinois on Friday.