SPRINGFIELD – Hannah Gardner became the first freshman in Missouri State volleyball history to record a triple-double Friday evening as the Bears took down visiting UTSA by a 3-1 (28-26, 17-25, 25-18, 25-13) final in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center.
 
Gardner ended the night with 13 kills, 22 assists and 10 digs, achieving the first such triple-double for the Bears since 2019, the 58^th overall and first ever by a freshman.
 
Not to be outdone, freshman Peyton McKee hit a blistering .500 with 19 kills, Rilynn Finley came off the bench with 11 kills in two sets, and freshman Jenna Walters added nine winners to help the Bears (2-3) hit .273 as a team.
 
"We had some freshmen step up and play really big tonight," said head coach Steven McRoberts. "Hannah had an incredible match all the way around as the first freshman in school history to get at triple-double. And Peyton on the outside has had two incredibly good, efficient attacking performances on back-to-back nights."
 
Walters and McKee had seven kills each in the opening set, with McKee's final two handing MoState the 28-26 win. The Roadrunners (1-3) jumped ahead 6-1 in the second and never trailed to even the match, and it was all Bears after that.
 
Missouri State piled up 34 kills and hit a combined .373 in the final two sets, capping off the victory with a wire-to-wire win in the fourth.
 
"I'm really proud of Rilynn and how she stepped up and got us back going," McRoberts added. "Our offense in those last two sets was just so efficient, and it's so fun to watch our team play with that energy. It was another great team performance, and we need our fans to come out tomorrow and help us close this home tournament out 3-0."
 
Kya Johnson and Aniya Joseph each had 17 digs, and Lizanyela Lopez tallied eight blocks for the second straight match to help the defense limit UTSA to a .170 hitting percentage.
 
The Bears play for the tournament championship Saturday at 3 p.m. against DePaul.