Sprague Surpasses 1,000 Digs, Bears Fall in Five to Weber State

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State senior setter Morgan Sprague equaled a career high with 24 digs and became the 28^th player in school history to reach 1,000 in a career Friday evening, but the Bears fell to visiting Weber State in five sets in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center.
 
Sprague had 10 digs in the fifth set alone in a match that saw both teams reach triple digits in that category. Weber State (3-4) took the lead for good with two kills in the decisive period for an 8-6 advantage and the Bears were unable to seize momentum back, falling by set scores of 21-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 11-15.
 
Iva Halacheva (14), GG Carvacho (13) and Lexi Weinberg (9) all had season highs for kills as the Bears (5-4) were without their top two season kill leaders in the match. Kate Owen had a season-high 26 digs, Brooke Eslinger had 17 and Kya Johnson tallied 13.
 
The Bears hit below .100 in the first and third periods, both won by the Wildcats, while the offense clicked in the even-numbered sets with a pair of efficiencies above the .300 mark for wins.
 
MoState limited itself to just two errors in the fourth set and hit .316 to extend the match, getting a balanced effort from seven different point-scorers. A 6-0 run to 10-6 and a 4-0 spurt to 17-11 were the difference.
 
Sprague added 48 assists and is also the third player in school history with 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career.
 
The Bears conclude tournament play Saturday at 1 p.m. against Saint Louis.