SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team dropped another tight three-set match, falling to Missouri State (21-25, 20-25, 24-26) in the University Plaza Invitational finale, Saturday, at the Hammons Center.

Once again Austin Peay (2-7) was within striking distance in each set, but saw a small Missouri State (3-4) run create enough separation to secure the win.

In the first set, it was a 3-0 Missouri State burst that provided a 22-19 lead en route to the 25-21 victory. The run came earlier in the second set, the Bears scoring five straight points providing a 15-10 advantage, but the Lady Govs were unable to string together enough points of their own to close the gap.

The Lady Govs may take the ride back to Clarksville to think about what could have been in the third set. Austin Peay battled back from an 18-14 deficit, using a 5-1 run to tie the set at 19-19. The Lady Govs would actually get to set point first, 24-23, on senior outside hitter Nikki Doyle's kill, but the Bears called timeout and Austin Peay's ensuing serve was out of bounds. Missouri State's Christine McCartney took advantage of the opening, scoring back-to-back kills to give Missouri State the match victory.

"We were right there and put ourselves in a situation to succeed but couldn't execute at the right time," said Lady Govs head coach Taylor Mott. "Our blocking and defense need to improve if we are going to be successful."

Sophomore outside hitter Jada Stotts wrapped up her stay in Springfield with a fourth-consecutive double-digit kill outing, leading Austin Peay with 11 kills, and was named to the all-tournament team. Doyle finished with 10 kills and sophomore Liz Landon chipped in nine kills.

Andrea Beaty led Missouri State with 16 kills and a .462 attack percentage. McCartney ended the match with 14 kills.

Austin Peay returns home and will continue its season-opening 15-match road trip with a 7 p.m., Tuesday contest at Lipscomb.