5SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Saint Louis defeated Missouri State 3-1 Saturday in the closing match of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at the Hammons Student Center on the campus of Missouri State University.
 
The Billikens improve to 4-5 with the victory. Missouri State falls to 5-5.
 
Trinity Luckett registered an astonishing .765 hitting percentage with 13 kills on 17 swings and no errors. That is the fifth-best hitting percentage mark in school history. It is also tied for the third-best hitting percentage in the NCAA this season among players with 15-19 attempts.
 
Addy Brus led the way for SLU with 17 kills, while Delaney Rice and Luckett registered 13 kills apiece. Kayla Jansen added nine kills for the Bills. Rice, Luckett and Jansen combined for 35 and just two errors on the afternoon.
 
As a team, the Billikens hit a season-high .351 and recorded a season-best 59 kills.
 
Carlie Rodgers finished with 15 digs. Brus was one dig shy of a double-double with nine digs.
 
Rice earned All-Tournament honors after hitting .240 with 27 kills over the Billikens' three matches. She also recorded eight blocks for the Bills.
 
SLU def. Missouri State 25-15, 24-26, 25-10, 25-21
 
Set 1 – It was an even start to the first set, with neither team managing to pull away until a late rally by the Billikens. SLU led 15-14, and the Bills would go on to outscore the Bears 10-1 the rest of the way as SLU claimed the opening set by a 25-15 margin.
 
Set 2 – The Billikens led for the majority of the second set before Missouri State ended on a run, rallying off four straight points on Billiken set points to even things at 1-1.
 
Set 3 – The third set was all Billikens. SLU ended it on an 11-1 rally to finish with the 25-10 victory. The 10 points scored by the Bears were the fewest by a SLU opponent in a set this season.
 
Set 4 – The Billikens came back from an early deficit to clinch the match with the win in set four. MSU led 11-6 and 14-9 early on before SLU rallied. The Bills tied it at 20-all to force an MSU timeout. The Bears would get the point out of the timeout to go up 21-20, and the Billikens responded with five straight points to close it out.  
 
Saint Louis concludes regular-season tournament play at Iowa's Hawkeye Invite II in Coralville, Iowa, Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 19-21. The Billikens will take on Drake and South Dakota in addition to the host Iowa Hawkeyes.