Volleyball Falls to Robert Morris in Weekend Finale

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Missouri State volleyball suffered its first loss of the season Saturday with a 3-1 setback against Robert Morris in its final match of the Spartan Classic hosted by UNC Greensboro.
 
Neele’ge Sims smacked a career-high 11 kills without an error to hit .500, and Rilynn Finley tallied a match-high 15 kills, making her the first freshman at MSU to reach double figures in their first three career matches, with match data available through the 1987 season.
 
The Bears (2-1) hit .224 as a team in a match that was close statistically despite set scores of 25-17, 8-25, 25-20 and 25-17 in favor of RMU (2-1).
 
The opening and closing sets were similar, with RMU running away from a 14-all tie in the first and 15-15 deadlock in the fourth for identical 25-17 wins.
 
The Bears, meanwhile, dominated the second by hitting .429 as a team and tallying five blocks as a team, including three from Sims, to hold the Colonials to -.097 hitting.
 
The momentum swung RMU’s way in the third set, with the Colonials jumping out to a 5-2 lead and fending off four tie scores from the Bears, who were never able to regain the lead.
 
Maddy Bushnell and Aniya Joseph added nine kills each for MSU, as Joseph narrowly missed joining Finley in double figures for the third straight match. Brooke Eslinger led MoState with 13 digs and Joseph had 12.
 
The Bears make their home debut Wednesday at 6 p.m. when Tulsa visits Hammons Student Center.