Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners won a five set thriller over Columbia College 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 26-24, 21-25 and 15-10) on Tuesday evening at the Bullman Multipurpose Building. The Cougars entered the contest as the fourth ranked team in the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Top 25 poll.

S&T (5-13) led for most of the first set after a couple of ties early on. It led by as many as four at 10-6 before Columbia (13-1) came storming back to tie and eventually take the lead at 16-14. The Lady Miners battled back scoring four straight points to regain the lead at 18-16, but the Cougars answered right back with a 5-0 run of their own taking its biggest lead of the set at 21-18. S&T tied the set back up at 21 on a pair of blocks by Lynsey Jorgensen (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) and Kit Spears (Valley Center, Kan./Valley Center). After the two sides traded service errors the Lady Miners regained the lead on an attack error.

Columbia got two straight points from Julie Teeple to get to set point but a service error tied it up then S&T was able to score the final two points to take the set 26-24. The Lady Miners committed only two errors in the opening set and outhit Columbia by a .257-to-.188 margin.

Early on in the second set it was all Cougars as they raced out to an 11-1 lead. S&T began to slowly climb back into the game getting it to within 16-14 midway through the frame. Columbia though put the set away with a 7-2 run squaring the match at 1-1. The Cougars hit .333 percent in the set (15k/5e/30ta).

The third set was another tight one as the sides traded leads through the first 20 points. The Cougars took a brief 13-10 lead before S&T responded with a 7-1 spurt to regain the lead at 17-14. The Lady Miners were able to hold their lead and extend it to 24-21 before Columbia rattled off three straight points tying the set on Cate Eckhardt's kill. S&T took advantage of another Cougar service error setting up its second set point then won it when Eckhardt's attack attempt resulted in an error.

Columbia recorded 17 kills to just 12 for S&T but the Lady Miners had only four attack errors compared to seven for the Cougars. S&T held the slight edge in hitting percentage .250-to-.244.

The Lady Miners led for the early portions of set four building an 8-5 advantage, but the Cougars came back with a 7-1 run taking the lead for good. S&T trailed by as many as four in the set on seven different occasions and were able to get as close as a couple of points near the end but were unable to get over the hump as the Cougars hung to force the fifth and deciding game.

In the fifth set the Lady Miners raced out to an early lead by scoring five of the first seven points. The Cougars got to within two at one point before S&T ran off three straight points building its advantage to 9-4. Columbia got back within two again, but the Lady Miners once again had an answer with a 4-1 run to build a 13-7 lead. S&T got to match point on a kill by Spears and then had to sweat out a couple of match points before Erin Bekebrede (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles) hammered home a kill giving the Lady Miners its first five set win of the season.

The Cougars recorded 17 more kills than S&T 70-53, however they committed five more attack errors than the Lady Miners did and had 13 service errors in the contest.

Julie Meyer finished with her eighth double-double of the season recording 19 kills and a season-high 18 digs to lead S&T. Bekebrede dropped home nine kills while Samantha Klump (Ash Grove, Mo./Homeschooled) finished with eight. Danielle Kracl (Omaha, Neb./Burke) had 27 set assists, Bridget Williams (Topeka, Kan./Hayden) dug 18 balls off the floor and Jorgensen finished with a match high five and a half blocks.

Eckhardt led four Columbia players in double figures with 19 kills. Monica Dos Santos had 15 kills; Maria Omondi added 13 and Ola Shawky Nosear finished with 10.

S&T continues its three match home stand this Friday evening hosting Saint Joseph's College in a Great Lakes Valley Conference match-up beginning at 7 p.m.