ALLENDALE, Mich. – Missouri S&T's volleyball team fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to #18 Grand Valley State 3-0 (22-25, 22-25, 17-25) on Thursday evening in Allendale, Mich. S&T had its chances to steal the first two sets, but were unable to make the plays down the stretch and finished its season with a record of 18-14.

The opening set went back-and-forth for the first 12 points before the Lakers (24-5) began to take control with a 4-0 run forcing the Miners to call a timeout. Out of the timeout S&T responded with four straight points to even the set then the two teams began trading points again. Grand Valley tried to pull away again with a 5-1 run only to see the Miners fight back to within a point. The Lakers led 21-20 when they took control of the set with two kills and a block to get to set point at 24-20. S&T fought off two set points, but were unable to complete the comeback as Betsy Ronda ended the set with a kill.

The second set was a replica of the first set with the two sides answering each other point for point and were tied at 11. The Miners used a 7-2 run to build a five-point lead and were the first to 20, but once again were unable to close it out as the Lakers ended the set scoring eight of the last 10 points and six straight to take the 2-0 lead.

S&T got off to fast start in the third set scoring four of the first five points. Grand Valley recovered and the two sides resumed swapping points as it was tied at 12 after a kill from Gracey Moon (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood). The Lakers dominated the rest of the set ending the match on a 13-5 run as Abby Aiken, Ally Simmons and Kaitlyn Wolters combined for seven kills down the stretch as Grand Valley took the finale 25-17.

The Miners finished the match with a hitting percentage of .172 recording 36 kills against 15 errors in 122 attempts. Moon led S&T with 11 kills while Alison Mueller (Bartelso, Ill./Mater Dei ) added eight kills. Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) and Jackie Zellmer (Nixa, Mo./Nixa) had seven kills each. Allie Plunk (Hurst, Texas/Birdville) distributed 34 assists and Jackie Pyles (White Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) had 15 digs.

The Lakers registered 50 kills against 13 errors in 128 chances and had an attack percentage of .289. Aiken led all players with 12 kills while Kaleigh Lound finished with 10 kills. Wolters dished out 37 assists while Christina Canepa led the way with 16 digs.