Bears open road trip with 3-1 setback at UIC

CHICAGO – Missouri State began its four-game road trip with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 24-26, 21-25) loss at UIC on Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena.

Maddy Bushnell Hit .321 with a team-high 13 kills, Morgan Sprague collected her 12^Th Double-double of the year with 18 assists and 12 digs, and Kate Owen surpassed 1,300 career digs and climbed to ninth place on the school’s all-time leaderboard.

UIC (12-6, 4-2 Missouri Valley Conference) held the Bears (7-11, 1-5) to .119 hitting, thanks in large part to 17 blocks, with 11 of those coming from the league leader in that category. Zahraia Woodard.

The Flames had five of those blocks in the first set and led 14-3 with a 10-0 run. The Bears fought back to within 21-16 before UIC closed with a 4-0 run.

MoState got the offense going in the second period with 15 kills on .317 hitting. The Bears jumped out to an 11-5 lead and went up 19-12 Kya Johnson Ace on the way to leveling the game with a set. Bushnell, Rilynn Finley And Aniya Joseph Each scored four kills and combined for an attack efficiency of .440.

After falling behind 3-0 in the third set, the Bears used an 11-3 run to take a five-point lead and extended it to 16-10 before UIC blew seven straight points. Bushnell had a kill and a block to stave off two set points and force a 24-all tie, and the Flames responded with two kills to secure the victory.

The Bears again trailed by a 9-5 lead early in the fourth, but the Flames had another late run, this time a 5-0 lead with a 20-17 lead that was too big for MSU to overcome him.

UIC had a 55-49 advantage in kills and 75-66 in digs. The Bears finished the game with eight blocks and seven aces.

The Bears visit Valparaiso (9-9, 1-5) on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Beacons lost 3-1 to Southern Illinois on Friday.

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