SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State volleyball team hit a season-high .375 Saturday afternoon and extended its win streak to five consecutive matches with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 sweep of visiting Louisiana Tech at Hammons Student Center.
 
The Bears (10-11, 5-5 Conference USA) were led by freshman Hannah Gardner, who narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 kills (on .476 hitting), 20 assists and eight digs, and Rilynn Finley, who hit .556 with 11 kills. Peyton McKee, Lexi Weinberg and Lizanyela Lopez added six kills each.
 
Lopez tallied seven blocks in the sweep and Brooke Eslinger had a match-high 13 digs as the Bears extended their streak of consecutive set wins to nine while moving to 8-3 at home.
 
Eslinger served two aces in a 4-0 run to a 10-8 lead in the opening set, Finley had two kills in a 5-0 spurt to 16-12, and the Bears hit .400 as a team with 18 total kills.
 
MoState improved its efficiency to .407 in the second period, with Lopez recording three blocks and a kill in a key 7-0 run for a 16-9 advantage.
 
In the third, the Bears closed on a 7-1 run with Gardner supplying three kills and two blocks in the finishing stretch.
 
Missouri State led the Bulldogs (7-17, 0-10) .375-.101 in hitting percentage, 44-32 in kills, 37-30 in digs, 8-5 in blocks and 4-3 in service aces.
 
The Bears are on the road next week at first-place UTEP with matches at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday, Central Time.
 
Missouri State has two home matches remaining, Nov. 7 and 8 against Liberty, and tickets purchased by Oct. 31 are $5 to those contests using the code BEARSWIN at this link.