SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (4-6, 0-0 OVC) loses their first of two matches at the Bear Invitational in Springfield, Mo. by a final score of 3-1 against host team Missouri State (5-5, 0-0 MVC). The Lions posted 58 kills as a team with a .173 hitting percentage.

"I thought we made some huge strides tonight with the direction of the team," said head coach Will Condon. "I believe this match will help us in the long run because we learned a great deal about ourselves."

Lindenwood opened up Thursday's match with a 26-24 set one victory. The Lions jumped out early with a 5-1 advantage to start the set. Missouri State would flip the switch taking a five point lead, 15-10. The first set ended in back and forth action with the Lions taking the win.

Four different Lions had four kills in the first including freshman Anna Kraemer and Jade Roth. Addy McAleer also chipped in four. Libero Jessie Seidel added a team-high 12 digs to lead the defense in the first set.

Missouri State knotted up the match at 1-1 with a  23-25 set victory in the second. Lindenwood trailed the entire way including being down nine three times including a 20-11 score. The Lions fought back towards the end going on an 11-2 run before MSU took the set.

Again the Lions battled in the third set before ultimately falling by a score of 21-25. Lindenwood's leading attacker Nyah Wilson added three kills in the set while McAleer added another three to her total. Missouri State's defense forced the Lions into 12 attack errors and a -.097 hitting percentage.

The match came to a close as both team tried to find a way at the end to win. There was 10 ties during the fourth set including at the 22-22 mark. MSU ended the set scoring the final three points to take home the victory. Rebecca Janke led the way in the final set with five kills and a .556 hitting percentage.

"Ultimately, Missouri State made a few more plays than we did and that was the difference. I thought we played the way we needed to in order to win matches like this one the road. Our effort was high, we were willing to make adjustments, but we just need a slightly higher level of execution in key moments," said Condon.

Wilson led the Lions with 14 kills in the loss while also adding eight digs. McAleer was right behind her with 11 kills and eight digs. Seidel picked up a season high 29 digs while also adding two aces. Allie Otten also had 30 assists while Abby VanBuskirk had 19 assists and 11 digs.

Lindenwood was forced into 29 attack errors while Missouri State only had 16. MSU also was a force at the net with 12.0 total blocks compared to just 3.0 by Lindenwood.

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. when they face Arkansas State to end the Bear Invitational. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.