St. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri State went the distance with Saint Louis Thursday evening before a narrow two-point setback in the fifth set in the opening match of the Missouri Challenge at Chaifetz Pavilion.
 
The Billikens won by set scores of 21-25, 25-13, 25-11, 23-25, 15-13.
 
Rilynn Finley (19) and Lizanyela Lopez (11) each posted season-high kill totals, while Hannah Gardner finished one kill shy of a triple-double with 19 assists and 10 digs.
 
The Bears fell behind 5-1 in the first but got three points from Finley in a 6-0 run to an 11-8 lead. The set tightened after that with five ties, the last of which was broken by a Brooke Eslinger ace that put MoState (4-5) up for good at 19-18. Finley had five kills and Lopez went 4-for-7 on the attack in the opening period.
 
The Billikens (6-3) dominated the next two sets, outscoring the Bears 50-24 and limiting MoState to a combined 15 kills and 15 hitting errors across both wire-to-wire victories.
 
The fourth set was tied at 21-all when Finley's kill gave the Bears the lead. Lopez followed with a block for 23-21 and added a kill for 24-22 before a SLU error handed MSU the win and forced a fifth set.
 
SLU jumped ahead 6-1 in the fifth and the Bears eventually closed to 14-13 before the Billikens' Ellie Rink ended it with her 29^th kill of the match, the most against MSU this season.
 
The Bears take on Southeast Missouri State (5-4) at 4 p.m. Friday.