JOPLIN, Mo. - Midwestern State used a 6-2 run to close out Missouri Southern 25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-10 in the Missouri Southern Invitational at Leggett and Pratt Athletic Complex.

The Mustangs lost their first set of the season when the Lions claimed the second set to break up a streak of 19-straight set wins to start the season.

MSU improved the best start of a season to 7-0, while Missouri Southern fell to 2-4.

"This shows we can face adversity and come through it," MSU coach Venera Flores-Stafford said. "We needed a gut check to see if we could come back and play. It's important for us early in the season."

The Mustangs close the invitational this afternoon against Dallas Baptist.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Ransom spurred the late run with consecutive kills as the Mustangs claimed six of the last eight points, but Ransom had plenty of help as Alysha Pritt, Miranda Byrd and Sesley Graves each had kills down the stretch.

Senior setter Allison Schreiber directed the Midwestern attack to a team .232 hitting percentage and finished with 51 assists. She also chipped in with eight digs.

Graves and Pritt led a quartet of Mustangs in double-digit kills with 14 apiece, while Whitney added 13 and Ransom had 11.

Shay Velasquez and Kiara Jordan had 15 and 11 digs, respectively to lead the MSU defense while Graves, Maxwell and Pritt had three blocks each.