The Standard

Issue date: 10/13/09 Section: Sports

Missouri State Bears volleyball was pressed to the limit Saturday, but was able to bounce back with a big fifth set to remain perfect in the Missouri Valley Conference.

A late push led by timely hitting from senior outside hitter Addie Foley helped the Bears avoid the loss to the Evansville Purple Aces in five sets, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11.

"Evansville pushed us really hard in the match, but it showed us what we're capable of and what we've got to do in the future," junior Cara Hackmann said.

Missouri State (14-4, 7-0 MVC) struggled in the first set, but after remaining close, the Bears pulled away with a 25-21 win. They then followed up by carrying that momentum into the second set; however, Evansville pulled out a 25-23 win, moving the match to 1-1 going into halftime.

In the second half, the Purple aces came out on a mission in the third, controlling the pace and getting up by three points, at 15-12. The

Bears then rotated in sophomore setter Julia Cawthra, who led them on a 13-4 run closing the set with a 2-1 lead.

Evansville fought through the tough third set and pulled down a 25-20 win in the fourth before the coin toss landed in favor of Missouri State to start the fifth. In that set, the Purple Aces continued to fight hard before the Bears pulled away for the 15-11 final set victory.

Missouri State had a well-balanced attack and defensive outcome as the team had five players with double figure kills, 71 as a team; five players with double figure digs, 109 as a team; and three players with at least six blocks, 31 total.

Junior setter Melissa Gmur led the Bears with 53 assists, which was combined with 10 digs, four kills, three blocks and an ace.

The other match of the weekend for the Bears was a three-set sweep of the Southern Illinois Salukis on Friday. The 25-23, 25-19, 25-13 match gave the Salukis only their third loss of the season, as they dropped to 13-3 and 3-3 in the Valley.

The 6-foot libero again set a school record this past weekend, except this time it was a Valley record, as well. Hackmann had 46 digs in Saturday's match against Evansville, an average of 9.2 digs per set, breaking the three-year-old record of 45 digs, set in September 2006.

Combining those 46 digs with the 23 earned against Southern Illinois, Hackmann now has 396 digs on the season, raising her digs-per-set average from 5.45 to 5.82.

The win against Evansville keeps the Missouri State winning streak rolling to seven games.

Since MVC play started on Sept. 18 against Illinois State, the Bears have won all seven, dropping only five sets along the way, their best start since 2003, when the team finished the Valley season 17-1.

Injury Update

As what usually occurs midseason, the Bears have been hit with a set of mild injuries to three differentplayers. Sophomores Megan Bess and Calli Norman, both with hand injuries, are doing well after playing this past weekend with finger casts, while senior Sara Staubach, who has been battling a knee injury, rested this past weekend but will be available to play in the near future.

Up Next

Missouri State will be on the road this weekend to finish out the first half of its conference schedule starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Bradley (9-12, 0-7). On Saturday, the Bears will take on Northern Iowa, who is currently the only other undefeated team in conference play, at 7-0, and 16-2 overall.

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