Missouri State loses in first round of NCAA volleyball tournament

For the third straight season, the Missouri State Bears volleyball team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, ending the historic career of senior Lily Johnson.

Johnson, who won three straight Missouri Valley Conference player of the year awards, looked back on her career positively following Friday’s loss.

“It’s definitely not the way we wanted to go out, but I can’t say enough about the things we achieved this season because we did some things we set goals for at the beginning,” Johnson said. “This is the last stepping stone and we fell short, but I am still very proud as we look at the big picture here.”

Michigan State (22-8) defeated Missouri State (28-6) in three sets, 25-19, 25-11 and 25-15 at Creighton University to advance to the second round.

“These are always the hardest interviews to give, when you lose your last match and the season is over,” Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes said. “I did not prepare for this. We were on a 21-match win streak and playing some pretty good volleyball.

“When we drew Michigan State … Michigan State was a team I had earmarked in my mind as a final four potential team.”

Familiarizing themselves in the first set, the Bears and Spartans exchanged points early. Momentum turned as Michigan State started dominating play at the net, using five blocks to jumpstart an 11-4 run.

“We struggled from the serve-receive line, and it’s tough,” Stokes said. “I thought our passing really broke down and we can’t be a one-man show, we just can’t. We are not good enough to do that.”

Missouri State rallied to bring the score within three at 21-18, but the Spartans capitalized on two Bears’ errors and aced the final serve to win 25-19.

Johnson recorded five kills in the set. But Missouri State finished with a .158 attack percentage, and the Spartans took advantage.

Michigan State carried the momentum from one set to the next, dominating the Bears 25-11 in set two. Missouri State finished the second set with an attack percentage of .000, while Michigan State finished with .364.

“Missouri State is an outstanding team, and they play great defense,” Michigan State head coach Cathy George said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us. … We knew they were going to come on and get after us.”

Missouri State junior Emily Butters led the defense, collecting 14 total digs — eight in the first set, five in the second and three in the third — but it was not enough. Missouri State, once again, failed to succeed at the net and did not record a single block in set two.

Michigan State senior Alyssa Garvelink was a huge reason why, recording seven kills in the set.

Nothing changed — from the Bears’ morale to the on-court results — after the 10-minute intermission between sets two and three.

“No matter what is going on on the court, we always find a way to be positive about and it and support each other,” Missouri State senior Lynsey Wright said.

The support helped for a little in set three as the Bears tried to hang on, but Michigan State secured its spot in the second round of the tournament with a 25-15 victory.

The hitting woes continued for the Bears in the final set, as they finished at .033, for a match percentage of .071. As the Bears struggled, Michigan State picked up the pressure.

Senior Brooke Kranda started to “let it fly” from the service line in set three and recorded three aces to propel the Spartans to victory.

“I knew they were a very tough serving team, and I think tonight that they showed that,” Stokes said of Michigan State. “I want to give them a lot of credit for causing a lot of the trouble we had on serve receive which got us out of system and held some of our best attackers to lowest percentages of the season.”

The Missouri State season ends after the Bears went undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference and won 21 straight games dating back to Sept. 16. For the first time all season, the Bears were swept.

“It’s hard, because I told them I was not prepared for that and I don’t think they were either,” Stokes said. “This match does not take away from our whole season. It’s really hard to not let it, because of the way we got beat.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Missouri State loses in first round of NCAA volleyball tournament."