CARBONDALE, Ill. – Missouri State went five sets for a third consecutive match Saturday, losing to SIUE at the Saluki Invitational at Davies Gym. The Bears won the first two sets before the Cougars took the final three to claim the 20-25, 13-25, 25-18, 25-16, 15-8 win.
 
The Bears (6-7) dominated the first two sets, serving nine combined aces and hitting .344 on the way to a 2-0 lead. Neele'ge' Sims served five of those aces and Rossana Papa added four, but the Bears tacked on just one service to their season-best total over the final three sets.
 
The Cougars (5-6) then took control, with a 10-9 MoState lead in the third set being the Bears' last advantage in the match. SIUE hit .305 in its three winning sets and tallied 10 of its 16 blocks in the last three periods, leading wire-to-wire in sets four and five.
 
In the fifth, SIUE jumped ahead 8-2, the Bears closed to 8-6 and kept that margin to10-8 before the Cougars closed on a 5-0 run.
 
Maddy Bushnell hit .400 with 12 kills for the Bears and Iva Halacheva (14) and Rilynn Finley (12) joined her in double figures. Kate Owen led MSU with 19 digs and Bushnell added three blocks.
 
The Cougars hit .267 compared to .200 for the Bears and led 63-54 in kills and 16-5 in total blocks.
 
The Bears stay on the road next weekend for Missouri Valley Conference matches at Drake on Friday and UNI on Saturday.