MARTIN, Tenn. – The Missouri State volleyball team moved to 4-2 on the season Friday with a sweep of North Alabama and 3-1 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the Skyhawk Classic hosted by UT Martin.
 
Aniya Joseph and Morgan Sprague each collected a double-double in both matches, while MSU extended its streak of hitting above .200 as an offense to six matches, the program's longest since doing so in 13 consecutive outings in 2017.
 
The Bears finish tournament play against host UT Martin at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
Missouri State def. North Alabama, 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 26-24)
The MSU defense amassed 89 digs and was not aced in a sweep of North Alabama, with five players recording at least 14 digs.
 
Joseph (17 kills, 16 digs) and Sprague (36 assists, 18 digs) each posted double-doubles, Maddy Bushnell hit .303 with 14 kills, while Kya Johnson (17), Brooke Eslinger (14) and Kate Owen (14) each tallied high dig numbers. Owen also served two aces, while Joseph and Neele'ge' Sims had four blocks each.
 
The Bears closed the opening set on a 4-0 run after trailing 24-22, with Joseph providing a kill and block in the final run before Sprague had the winning kill. Bushnell went for nine kills on .533 hitting in the set.
 
UNA pulled even twice but never took the lead after MoState went ahead 14-9 in the second, and the Bears jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set before the Lions tied at 22, 23 and 24. Sims and Grace Smith answered with consecutive kills for the win.
 
The Bears hit .208 compared to .150 for UNA in a match characterized by numerous long rallies.
 
Missouri State def. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-1 (25-9, 25-27, 25-16, 25-16)
The Bears dominated the odd-numbered sets and split the even sets for their second victory of the day. MSU hit .280 for its sixth consecutive match above .200.
 
Joseph hit .433 with 15 kills and 12 digs, and Sprague tallied 42 assists and 16 digs, the fifth double-double of the season for each player. Sims tied a career high with 11 kills while hitting an error-free .524, and Smith had a season-high seven kills without an error to go with four blocks.
 
MoState hit .452 as a team in the first period behind a 6-for-9 attack effort from Sims and five kills from Joseph in the wire-to-wire win and had 15 kills against just one error in the third to regain the lead.
 
The second set was tied 17 times with six lead changes to 25-all when a block and MSU attack error gave UAPB the two-point victory to even the match.
 
The Bears pulled away from a 14-14 tie in the fourth, closing on an 11-2 run to secure the win.
 
Missouri State held the Golden Lions to .061 hitting.