SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State freshmen Jenna Walters (16), Peyton McKee (13) and Hannah Gardner (8) combined for 37 kills Thursday evening to lead the Bears to a 3-1 (25-16, 25-16, 24-26, 25-22) victory over Lindenwood in the opening match of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center.
 
Walters hit .361 and McKee checked in at .310, while Gardner added 16 assists and 11 digs to flirt with a triple-double.
 
"Really big win tonight and our freshman really impressed," head coach Steven McRoberts said after the home-opening victory. "If you look at the stat sheet, it's just full of great performances. I told the team in the locker room that everybody out there contributed, whether it was kills or blocking or digs or aces."
 
The MoState defense also tallied 17 blocks, its most since November 2023, led by Lizanyela Lopez with eight and Grace Smith and Lexi Weinberg with six apiece. For Lopez, the eight stuffs were the highest total for a Bear since Azyah Green's nine in November 2023.
 
The Bears (1-3) rolled through the first two sets with only two total attack errors in a pair of comfortable wins, then rallied from 24-21 down in the third to tie before Lindenwood landed consecutive kills to prevent the sweep.
 
In the fourth, the Bears jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed, though the Lions threatened at 21-20. Walters and McKee combined for 10 of MSU's 17 kills in the final stanza.
 
Missouri State hit .280 compared to .154 for Lindenwood while leading 8-4 in aces and 17-8 in blocks. Aniya Joseph led MSU with 16 digs and Kya Johnson had 12.
 
"I think there was immense improvement between week one and week two with this team," added McRoberts. "Being able to double our hitting percentage from last week was huge for us. Jenna and Peyton and Lexi did a great job of handling both in-system and out-of-system attacks. Being able to come out and establish that and have our young players play with that type of confidence was fun to watch."
 
The tournament continues with three matches on Friday, with the Bears taking on UTSA in the 7 p.m. nightcap.