SPRINGFIELD – After Missouri State picked up a pair of narrow victories for a 2-0 lead over visiting UIC Saturday at Hammons Student Center, the visiting Flames seized control with a dominant effort in the final three sets to earn the reverse sweep.
 
UIC (18-7, 10-3 Missouri Valley Conference) took the five-setter by scores of 25-27, 24-26, 25-13, 25-15, 15-8.
 
Missouri State (10-15, 4-9) took the 2-0 lead behind a strong offensive first set and a late rally in the second. Freshman Lexi Weinberg had seven of her career-high 14 kills in the opening period and the Bears led 21-15 before UIC rallied for a 22-22 tie. MoState got set point at 24-22 and eventually capitalized on its fourth opportunity for the 1-0 lead.
 
The second set featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes with each team going on a late 4-0 run. The Flames got to 24-22 with their run, and the Bears answered with a Rilynn Finley kill and Neele'ge' Sims block for the 24-all tie. UIC missed an attack and Iva Halacheva followed with a kill to make it 2-0 Bears.
 
It was all UIC after that as the Flames hit a combined .352 with six blocks and eight service aces over the final three periods. The Flames jumped ahead 10-0 in the third set, 15-6 in the fourth and 11-3 in the fifth to finish out the comeback.
 
Finley led MSU with 16 kills and Halacheva added 13, though the Bears hit .155 compared to .267 for UIC.
 
Kate Owen had 17 digs to surpass 1,400 for her career and was joined in double figures by Brooke Eslinger (14), Reagan Baade (14) ad Morgan Sprague (12). Baade's 14 digs and three aces were both career highs for the freshman, while Sprague added three aces and 39 assists.
 
Missouri State hits the road next weekend for matches at Bradley and Illinois State.