Box Score (Lansing, Mich.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners won two of the first three sets but were unable to take either of the final two in its 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 26-24, 14-25 and 9-15) loss to Ashland on Friday evening in its opening game of the second annual GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament in Lansing, Mich.

S&T (8-19) got off to a slow start in the opening set falling behind 10-4 early before going on a 19-8 run sparked by five kills from Julie Meyer to take a 23-18 lead. Erin Bekebrede put the Lady Miners at set point with her third kill of the set at 24-19 before Ashland (10-11) scored the next two points to get back within three. That would be as close as the Eagles would get as Samantha Klump ended the set with a kill for the 25-21 win. Meyers, Klump and Bekebrede combined for 12 of the 15 kills in the set as S&T hit .225 percent (15 kills/6 errors/40 total attacks) while holding Ashland to just fewer than 8 percent with 10 kills against seven errors in 38 total attacks.

The second set saw nine ties and three lead changes as this time the Lady Miners got off to the good start by scoring the first three points. The Eagles though responded with a 7-1 run to gain its first lead of the set. They built the lead to as many as five at 16-11 before S&T began chipping away behind the play of Bekebrede and Klump who accounted for four of the five points in a 5-0 run that tied it up at 16 all. The two sides exchanged the next eight points before the Lady Miners took advantage of back-to-back attack errors by Ashland to regain the lead at 22-20. The Eagles cut it to a point a on a kill by Anesia Benton but Bekebrede gave S&T its two point advantage back on the next play with a kill. Ashland scored the next two points on a kill by Britney Jurchenko and a bad set by the Lady Miners to tie it back up at23 all.

S&T regained the lead on a kill by Klump setting up set point but the Eagles scored the next three points to take the set 26-24 and even the match at a set win apiece. The Lady Miners had four fewer kills than Ashland did in the frame while both sides committed five attack errors. The Eagles outhit S&T by a .289-to-.194 clip.

The third set was even closer with 18 ties and five lead changes as neither side held more than a one point advantage through the first 28 points. S&T built a 17-14 lead with a kill and back-to-back service aces by Meyer. Ashland quickly came back to tie it up at 18-18 before the Lady Miners regained a 20-18 lead. It appeared that S&T had built a three point lead on a kill but it was waved off as play was halted by a ball from another court forcing a replay of the point. The Eagles took advantage by scoring back-to-back points to tie it back up at 20.

The Lady Miners again gained a two point advantage on a kill by Meyer and service by Bekebrede but they were unable to shake Ashland as it scored the next three points taking a 23-22 lead. Klump tied things back up with a kill at 23, but the Eagles were the first to get to set point on a kill by Ellen Grenert. S&T refused to go away tying it back up an attack error by Marina Santos and then retook the lead when Ashland's coach received a red card to get to set point at 25-24. The Lady Miners won the set on the next play as Grenert made an attack error to five S&T a 26-24 victory.

The Lady Miners hit .171 compared to just .133 by the Eagles in the frame.

The fourth set was tied 6-6 before Ashland began to pull away scoring seven of the next 10 points to open a 13-9 lead. The Eagles then proceeded to break open the contest with a 6-3 run behind a pair of kills and four Lady Miner errors. S&T got as close as 19-13 but could get no closer as Ashland finished the set on a 6-1 run to win 25-14 and set up the fifth and deciding set.

The Eagles dominated the frame offensively hitting nearly 40 percent with 17 kills against only two errors while holding the Lady Miners to just .032 (6k/5e/31ta).

The fifth set was all Ashland as they got out to an early 4-1 lead and never looked back. S&T got as close as two on a couple of different occasions but were unable to contain the Eagle offense in the final stanza as they had eight kills and no errors in 21 chances to take the set 15-9 and the match.

The Lady Miners finished the contest recording 51 kills and hit .163 for the match but Ashland was a little bit better with 66 kills (25 in the last two sets) and hit almost 24 percent.

Brittany Snider finished with a match-high 26 kills against just four errors in 66 chances and also had 19 digs to lead the Eagles. Jurchenko was the only other Ashland player in double figures with 12 kills.

Meyer led the Lady Miners with 12 kills and 20 digs while Klump had 11 kills, Bekebrede finished with nine and Kit Spears had eight.

S&T returns to action on Saturday morning when it takes on Ohio Dominican at 9 a.m.(CST), at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament in Lansing, Mich.