After letting the first set get away Sunday, Mississippi State was determined not to blow another opportunity in the third.

Despite blowing six set points, the Bulldogs managed to stave off three match points to win a marathon set. But Missouri closed it out in the fourth set, sending MSU to its fifth consecutive defeat, 27-25, 25-12, 29-31, 25-18.

Against a Tigers team playing its best volleyball of the season, the Bulldogs (7-8, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) came out hot and built a 15-10 lead in the opening set. Missouri (13-5, 4-2) rallied with six straight points to surge into the lead, but MSU weathered the storm and had two chances to clinch the set. Instead, the Tigers won three points in a row, and while the Bulldogs did save one set point, Missouri closed it out when Arianna Beckham misfired.

The hosts then dominated the second set, taking leads of 7-0 and 15-2 to go up two sets to none. The third set went back and forth before MSU went on a 6-0 run to go ahead 17-11, and when Erin Kline set up Karli Schmidt for a kill, the Bulldogs were up 24-20. But the Tigers stormed back to again force extra points, during which neither team could secure that necessary two-point lead until Ceci Harness set up Rebecca Walk for MSU to avoid the sweep.

The Bulldogs took a brief early lead in the fourth set but quickly surrendered it. Kailin Newsome led MSU with 15 kills and 15 digs, Amina Shackelford added 13 kills and Schmidt chipped in with 11. Harness had 24 assists. It was a rough afternoon for sophomore Arissa Smith, who entered the match leading the nation in hitting percentage — Smith had just three kills and an error on 14 swings.

Next up for the Bulldogs is the first of two meetings with bitter rival Ole Miss. The Magnolia State foes will battle in Starkville on Wednesday night.