BOX SCORE

NORMAL, IL -  The Missouri State Bears claimed the Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament championship for the first time since 2008 with a 3-0 sweep of the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday at Redbird Arena. MSU won by set scores of 25-15, 25-23, 25-22.

UNI (26-8) overall had to settle for its seventh runner-up finish in MVC Tournament history.

Missouri State (28-5 overall) claimed the MVC's automatic bid to the the 2017 NCAA Tournament on the strength of an 18-kill, 14-dig performance from MVC Player of the Year Lily Johnson. MSU's Lynsey Wright tallied 12 kills.

The Bears won the opening set, 25-15. MSU jumped out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back in the first set. MSU hit .359 in the opening set, while UNI hit .054 with 10 kills and eight errors.

The Bears used a 7-0 run to take a 14-7 lead in the second set. UNI battled to within 23-22, but the Bears were able to close out the set, 25-23. UNI held the Bears to .182 hitting in the second set, but the Panthers could muster only .120 hitting percentage. UNI had 15 kills and nine errors in the second set.

Missouri State closed out the title match with a 25-22 win in the third set. The final set was knotted at 20-20 before the Bears finished the set on a 5-2 run. 

UNI was led in the match by sophomore Karlie Taylor's 10 kills and 11 digs along with freshman Jaydlin Seehase's 10 kills. Junior Kendyl Sorge posted 17 digs.

The NCAA will announce the volleyball tournament field of 64 at 8 PM (CT) on ESPNU Sunday evening.  The first-round matches will take place on November 30.