EL PASO, Texas – Missouri State saw its five-match winning streak come to end Friday evening at first-place UTEP, with the Miners claiming a 3-1 (25-11, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17) victory at Memorial Gym.
 
The Miners (20-3, 10-1 Conference USA), who received votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll, wasted no time in grabbing an 11-1 lead in the first set on the way to hitting .500 with four aces and five blocks in the opening chapter.
 
The Bears (10-12, 5-6) settled in the next period, playing UTEP to 12 tie scores on the way to 15-all before the home team pulled away for the 2-0 lead.
 
MoState overcame a 5-1 deficit in the third courtesy of a solid offensive effort with 17 total kills on .289 hitting, including six winners from Rilynn Finley and five from Lexi Weinberg. Grace Smith provided the defense with three blocks in a 6-1 run to an 18-15 lead, while four of Finley's kills came after to the 20-point mark to close it out for the Bears.
 
Missouri State led the fourth set 12-11 on a Weinberg kill before the Miners flexed their muscle with a 14-5 closing stretch, hitting .371 in the final set to finish at .384 in the match.
 
Finley led the Bears with 14 kills and Weinberg added 11 to reach double figures for the third time this season. MSU hit .176 as a team to end a stretch of eight consecutive matches at .213 or better, thanks in large part to UTEP's 13 blocks, the most by an opponent this season.
 
The teams meet again at 1 p.m. (Central) on Saturday.