SIU volleyball took another conference loss as the Missouri State Bears took Saturday’s matchup in three sets (17-25, 21-25, 22-25) at Davies Gym.

The Salukis came into Saturday’s matchup against the Bears in hopes to end Missouri State’s 21-game win streak in the Missouri Valley Conference, as well as hand them their first conference loss of the season.

Missouri State (14-5, 6-0 MVC) leads the all-time series with the Salukis 52-2o. SIU has found most of its wins at home, with 14 of the Salukis 20 series wins coming in Carbondale. Southern’s last victory against the Bears was on Sept. 26, 2016.

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The Salukis looked to set the tone for the match as they took the first two points of the first set after a ball handling error and a kill by freshman opposite hitter Maggie Nedoma.

SIU’s run was quickly shut down as the Bear’s went on to take eight out of the next nine points taking an 8-3 lead.

Missouri State never looked back as they continued to extend their lead and go on to take the first set of the match 25-15 and a 1-0 match lead.

The Bear’s carried their momentum over into the second set as they jumped to a quick 5- 2 lead thanks to a four-point run.

The Salukis were able to battle their way back into the second set as they closed Missouri State’s lead down to one after an attack error by the Bears and a kill from redshirt senior outside hitter Andrea Estrada made the score 8-7.

Southern was able to tie the game back up at 11-11, but Missouri State immediately gained breathing room on the back of a three-point run, giving the Bears a 14-11 lead.

SIU was able to tie the game up once again as they replied back with a three-point run of their own due to a service error and two attacking errors from the Bears making the score 14-14.

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The Salukis were able to take another lead in the set after taking two of the next three points due to a couple of kills from Estrada giving them a 17-15 lead forcing MSU to take a timeout.

After swapping points back and forth, Missouri State was able take the lead back 22-21, forcing SIU to take a timeout.

The Bears once again proved to be too much to handle for the Salukis as Southern could not piece together any more points, surrendering the second set to MSU 25-21.

With a 2-set lead in the match, Missouri State started off the third set strong with a 2-0 lead. The Salukis responded with a block from junior middle blocker Patience Brown and a kill by senior outside hitter Nellie Fredriksson, tying the set up at 2-2.

The Bears tuned the set around going on a five-point run to take a 7-3 lead.

Missouri State continued to hold a comfortable lead till Southern put together a couple of two-point runs late in the set to close the Bear’s lead to two points and force MSU to take a timeout with the score 20-18.

The Salukis were unable to piece together anymore runs as the Bear’s went on to take the final set 25-22, completing the 3-0 match sweep.

Estrada led the team in kills with ten on the night while Brown added nine of her own.

Freshman setter Rachel Maguire led the team in assists with a total of 14 while sophomore setter Alayna Martin followed up with a total of 11.

Estrada also co-led the team in digs with 13 on the night, completing another double-double, while senior libero Ashley Edelen added 13 of her own.

“They’re a great team,” coach Kari Thompson said. “We have to make the plays and keep going at them offensively.”

The Salukis’ (4-13, 3-3 MVC) homestand ends as they hit the road to face the University of Northern Iowa on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.

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