JOPLIN, Mo. - Midwestern State made strides Saturday morning in the Missouri Southern Invitational at Young Gymnasium.

But No. 17 Pittsburg State used a strong service game to overcome the Mustangs in three sets - 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 - to send MSU to its third-straight loss to begin the season.

"We started out really well, but we just couldn't finish off the sets," MSU coach Venera Flores-Stafford said. "We played much better, much better than yesterday."

The solid play wasn't enough to overcome a 13 Pittsburg State service aces and a stellar all-around performance from Molly Bergkamp, who paced the Gorillas with 11 kills, eight digs and seven aces.

Sophomore Miranda Byrd paced an improved Mustangs' attack with 13 kills while committing just three errors for a .400 kill rate, while Sesley Graves and Lauren Bayer provided solid offensive options in the middle with six and five kills respectively and a combined attack percentage of .435.

In her second collegiate start, freshman Kimberly Jeffrey piloted the Mustangs to a .272 team attack percentage with 29 assists, while adding eight digs.

Sophomore libero Kiara Jordan led back row effort with 16 digs, while Hillary White added seven kills and seven digs.

Midwestern State closes tournament play against Missouri S&T at 1 p.m.