The fifth-largest volleyball crowd in school history — roughly 5,000 fans — was in attendance for this weekend’s game against Missouri State.

While the first 1,000 fans to attend the match got a free volleyball, the whole crowd was given the gift of watching Wichita State edge over third ranked Missouri State 3-2 in five sets.

With injuries and a bit of a lull, the Shockers have been experiencing lately, at least according to head coach Chris Lamb. The win over Missouri State may give WSU the confidence boost they’ve needed as the end of the season approaches.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten a better team,” Lamb said.

She argued that it could have been since the Baylor or Texas San Antonio matches that the Shockers got the win over a better team.

However, because Missouri State just barely won over Wichita State in their last encounter — a match that would extend to five sets — the Shockers were determined to win on their home court.

“You start starving for one of those wins that make you realize you’re getting better,” Lamb said.

In the first set, the Bears shot out of the gate with a 7-4 lead, but WSU kept a close hold on the team as there were 17 times the score became tied.

Abbie Lehman, who had 13 kills throughout the match, helped the Shockers multiple times just in the first set with a well timed kill that pushed the Shockers to an 8-7 lead. Senior Ashlyn Driskill also changed the momentum with a monumental block making the score 10-8.

The teams played tightly after this until WSU got the lead at 23-22 by a kill from Driskill, but the Bears grabbed the next three points to finish the set having their highest hitting average of the match at .333.

WSU lagged behind Missouri State for most of the second set with only two lead changes, but used a kill from setter Emily Hiebert to change the momentum and tie the game at 18.

After utilizing a Bear hitting error to gain the lead at 20-19, Shocker offense became a force with a kill by MaryAshton Floyd, a service ace from Hiebert and a set-wining kill from Lehman, pushing the Shockers to 25-21.

The third set for the Shockers was not as pretty as they fell behind the Bears 19-9.

While WSU did fight back to get within five points of the Bears at one point in the match, Missouri State won the set 25-19.

WSU gained an early lead in the fourth set with the help of back-to-back kills from Floyd and Katie Reilly.

A kill from Lehman extended the Shockers’ lead to 17-9, but Missouri State inched their way within four points of WSU near the end of the game.

Once again, the Shockers used back-to-back kills to finish the set at 25-19, hitting .375 and siding out at 73 percent.

Ashlyn Driskill, who had 17 kills throughout the match, started the fifth set with four kills, which brought WSU to a 7-3 lead. From there, the Shockers had control of the game, taking the set 15-11.

After the match, Driskill commented on the energy the Shockers had, specifically in the fourth and fifth sets.

“I’ve never been on a team with that much energy,” Driskill said. “Everyone was contributing. That type of environment definitely helps you succeed.”

With this win under the Shockers’ belt, WSU extends their record against Missouri State to 21-8 since 2004.

“We’re going to leave this gym feeling happy, good about ourselves because this is our win,” Lehman said.

The Shockers will take the court again at 5 p.m. Friday inside Koch Arena as they host Evansville.