SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State recorded a season-high 18 blocks, including 11 from senior Lizanyela Lopez, on the way to a 3-1 (26-24, 18-25, 25-16, 25-12) victory over Purdue Fort Wayne Friday evening to complete a two-match series sweep of the Mastodons at Hammons Student Center.
 
Lopez's 11 stuffs were the most by a Bear since Azyah Green had that many against Loyola in March 2021, and team total was the highest since getting 19 against Belmont in November 2023.
 
The Bears (4-4) had 10 blocks in the opening set alone, overcoming a 20-8 deficit in kills for the win. The set was knotted at 24-all after 15 ties when Grace Smith had back-to-back blocks for the win, giving her six in the opening period.
 
PFW (1-7) jumped ahead 6-0 and never trailed in the second set, and the MoState defense took over after that.
 
The Bears held the Mastodons to a negative hitting efficiency in both the third and fourth sets, dropping PFW's total to .091 in the contest. Smith finished with a career-high seven blocks and seven Bears had multiple stuffs, while Aniya Joseph lifted a career-high 20 digs.
 
MoState pulled away in the third set with a 5-0 run to 17-11 that included two Kya Johnson aces. In the fourth, Hannah Gardner served a pair of aces in an 8-0 run that put the set away early.
 
Missouri State is on the road until early October, heading to St. Louis to face SLU, SEMO and Kansas City in the Missouri Challenge (Sept. 18-20) before opening its inaugural Conference USA schedule Sept. 26-27 at FIU in Miami.