CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Missouri State volleyball team was within striking distance late in all three sets Saturday evening at preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite UNI, but the Panthers held on at home for the 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 victory inside the McLeod Center.
 
Missouri State (6-9, 0-3) served nine aces against one error, a season-best ace total for a three-set match and served for the tie beyond the midpoint of all three periods.
 
UNI (7-7, 2-0) closed out the opening period with a 5-0 run that began by siding out the Bears with a 20-19 lead. The Panthers piled up 22 kills in the first set.
 
MoState fell behind 7-1 in the second, then got three aces from Morgan Sprague in a 6-0 run to tie at 8-8. The scoring run extended to 10-1 for a 12-9 advantage, UNI took the lead back for good at 16-15 with a block and eventually made it 2-0 with its fourth ace in the set.
 
The Bears fell behind 10-4 in the third set and closed to 14-13 before UNI countered to grow its margin back to 19-14. MoState fought off a four match points when UNI got a kill to secure the sweep.
 
Iva Halacheva hit .538 with eight kills as the only Bear with more than five winners. Kate Owen moved up a spot to 12^th on MSU's career list with 11 digs, and also served three aces. Neele'ge Sims had four blocks.
 
UNI owned a .316-.146 lead in hitting percentage and 54-28 advantage in kills.
 
The Bears return home for the only time during a five-week stretch to take on Illinois State at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, and Bradley at 5 p.m. the next day.