Thomas Records Triple-Double To Lead Bears Past Bradley, 3-1
(news release)
Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Victory Over Bradley
SPRINGFIELD -- Carly Thomas notched her third triple-double of the season to lead a balanced Missouri State attack on both sides of the net Friday in a 27-25, 26-28, 25-15, 25-16 Missouri Valley Conference volleyball victory over Bradley.
Thomas finished with 10 kills, 50 assists and 17 digs, with eight of her kills coming in the final two sets, while five Bears recorded at least 10 kills and five reached double figures in digs.
The teams split the first two sets with each going extra time. Missouri State (12-12, 6-6 MVC) jumped ahead 11-4 in the first before Bradley (8-15, 2-10) eventually took a 19-17 lead.
Andrea Beaty scored kills for leads of 21-20 and 22-21 as well as a 23-all tie before Thomas ended it with an ace.
The second set featured 10 ties and six lead changes to a 13-11 MSU lead when Bradley went on a 5-0 run to lead 16-13.
Christine McCartney scored three straight MSU points for a 21-20 advantage, and Amber Doolittle followed with a block and a kill to make the score 23-20.
The Bears went on to lose three separate set points and the Braves converted their second chance to tie the match at 1-1.
The Bears started the third period on a 4-0 run and never looked back. Beaty’s kill made it 12-5, and MSU held the lead between five and seven points until a 4-0 run opened up a 21-11 cushion.
Missouri State hit .289 in the period while holding Bradley to eight kills and .024 hitting.
The fourth set was tied eight times to a 10-10 score before the Bears scored two points to grab the lead for good.
A 7-0 run turned a 14-13 score into a 21-13 advantage as Missouri State rattled off 20 kills on .425 hitting in the period, with four separate players logging at least four kills.
McCartney led all players with 16 kills and was joined by Olivia Brand (15), Doolittle (12), Beaty (11) and Thomas (10) in double figures.
Ashley Mason and Shelby Strang shared high dig honors with 18 apiece, while Mason became the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 career digs during the second set and finished the night ranked 18th with 1,011 for her career.
MSU led the Braves in kills (68-47), digs (95-60) and hitting percentage (.240-.147).
Each team had 10 blocks, with Beaty playing a role in eight for the Bears.
Missouri State hosts UNI (20-6, 11-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Panthers won 3-0 at Wichita State Friday evening.
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