The Salukis women’s volleyball team (1-3, 0-2 MVC) lost the second game of the series, 3-1 against the Missouri State Bears (6-1, 2-0 MVC) on Feb. 2.

Southern fought hard in the fourth set of the game, trading kills with the Bears, but it was not enough to take the set to rally for a fifth deciding set. 

Redshirt senior outside hitter Savannah Sheridan and freshman middle hitter Imani Hartfield led SIU in kills with 14 each, and senior setter Rachel Maguire led the Salukis in assists (40) and digs (26).

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Junior outside hitter Amelia Flynn led Missouri State in kills with 19 and freshman middle blocker Reagan Casey led the team in blocks with five. 

Missouri State started the first set early with a 6-1 lead from scoring by Flynn and sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn Cink and errors from the Salukis.

The Bears continued lengthening their lead with attack errors from SIUs Hartfield and Sheridan.

Southern ended Missouri State’s scoring run with a kill by Sheridan making the score 8-2.

The Salukis fought to decrease the Bears’ lead with kills by Sheridan and redshirt senior opposite hitter Emma Baalman but Missouri stayed ahead 13-8.

SIU cut the score gap to two points with four kills in a row from redshirt freshman outside hitter Bailey Neuberger and Sheridan.

The Bears went on a five-point run with kills by Flynn, Cink, freshman outside hitter Lindsay Lahr and Casey making the score 19-12.

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Missouri State finished the first set, 25-16, after a service error from junior defensive specialist Katy Kluge.

The Bears started the second set with two kills from Flynn and Cink each giving them a two-point lead.

Southern tied the score, 2-2 with a service error from Flynn and a block from Neuberger and Hartfield.

Neither team could gain a large lead in the beginning of the second set with the score gap at just one point.

The Salukis gained a three-point lead, 11-8, from kills by freshman outside hitter Tatum Tornatta and Neuberger and attack errors from Missouri State.

SIU increased their lead to five points after kills from Hartfield and Neuberger and an attack error from Lahr.

The Bears decreased the lead, 21-19, with two kills from Lahr and a service ace from Flynn.

The Salukis won the second set, 25-20, after kills from Sheridan and Hartfield tying the game 1-1. 

Missouri State gained a 4-1 lead early in the third set with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Azyah Green and a kill and service ace from Flynn.

The Bears lead increased, 8-3, with a four-point run from scoring by Flynn, Lahr and freshman defensive specialist Teagan Polcovich.

Southern fought to close the score gap with kills from Sheridan, Tornatta and Baalman but Missouri kept the lead, 13-9.

SIU tied the score, 14-14, from a kill by Hartfield and a block by Maguire and Hartfield.

Missouri State took back the lead, 20-15, after some errors from SIU and a kill by Cink.

The Bears won the third set, 25-17, after going on a four-point run with two service aces from freshman defensive specialist Katie Wemhoener and two kills from Flynn giving them a 2-1 lead in the game.

Scoring was close in the beginning of the fourth set with both teams getting back-to-back kills.

Both teams stayed within a point of each other throughout the fourth set with the lead changing several times.

Missouri State gained a 15-12 lead after kills from Cink and Casey and an attack error from Neuberger.

The Salukis fought to close the gap with kills from Baalman, Tornatta and Hartfield but the Bears maintained the lead 19-16.

The Bears won the game 3-1 after winning the fourth set 25-18. 

The Salukis will take on Loyola on Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. at Davies Gym.

Staff reporter Janae Mosby can be reached at jmosby@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @mosbyj.

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