Box Score

(Kansas City, Mo.) – Despite getting a career-high 23 kills from Erin Bekebrede, the Missouri S&T Lady Miners were unable to hold a 2-1 lead in its 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 25-21, 15-25, 11-15) loss at Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon.

The opening set was tight for the majority of the frame as there were 13 ties and four lead changes. With the score tied at 17 all, the Lady Miners (10-8, 5-4 GLVC) scored five straight points to take command with a 22-17 lead. The Hawks (16-4, 5-3 GLVC) scored a couple of points to get the deficit down to four but S&T finished strong winning the set on an attack error by Maggie McGovern.

The Lady Miners dominated the opening set on the stat sheet by outhitting Rockhurst 37 percent to seven percent. S&T hammered home 17 kills to just nine for Rockhurst. Bekebrede hit 57.1 percent in the opening frame recording eight kills in 14 opportunities.

The second set started out along the same lines as the first as the two teams traded the first 20 points. The Hawks then broke the game open with a 12-2 run behind five kills from their offense and took advantage of five Lady Miner miscues to take the second set 25-13.

Rockhurst flipped the tables in the second set recording 14 kills against only two errors to finish the frame hitting 41.4 percent. S&T on the other hand struggled to maintain its offensive rhythm from the first frame as it hit under seven percent with just seven kills in 31 chances.

The Hawks held the lead for the early portions of the third set, but the Lady Miners responded to come back and tie the frame at 12 on a kill by Katie Herington (Kalona, Iowa/Mid-Prairie). A kill by McGovern tied the set up at 14 all, but it would be the last time the frame was tied as Herington gave S&T the lead for good with a kill. Her kill sparked the Lady Miners to a 6-2 run giving them a 20-16 lead.

Rockhurst got to within 20-19 but three straight points by S&T gave them the commanding lead and sparked them onto the set win at 25-21.

Both offenses struggled in the third set as neither hit above 10 percent. The Lady Miners held the edge hitting 9.6 percent and held the Hawk attack to just a 0.19 hitting percentage. Jessica Laughary (Wheaton, Mo./Wheaton) led the S&T charge with five kills in the frame.

The fourth set was a carbon copy of the second as it was tight early before Rockhurst went on a long run to win the set 25-15 and set up the winner take-all finale.

The Hawks hit 45 percent in the fourth frame while holding S&T to just five percent.

In the final set the two sides swapped the first 10 points before the Lady Miners scored three of the next four points to take an 8-6 lead into the changeover. After the quick break Rockhurst charged back with three straight of its own to take the lead 9-8. S&T tied it on an error by McGovern, but couldn't get over the hump as the Hawks scored six of the final eight points to win the set 15-11 and the match.

Rockhurst hit 22 percent while the Lady Miners were at 15.4 percent. Bekebrede and McGovern each paced their respective teams with four kills apiece in the final set.

The Hawks finished the match hitting 20.3 percent and were led by McGovern with 22 kills. Nicci Hartley and Mary Walczuk added 10 kills each. Alyssa Emerson finished with 49 assists while Kate Reiter had 25 digs.

S&T hit 14 percent for the match and were led by Bekebrede's 23 kills. Laughary added 10 more while Samantha Klump (Ash Grove, Mo./Homeschooled) chipped in with nine. Jennifer Costello (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South ) dished out 50 assists while Bridget Williams (Topeka, Kan./Hayden) had 31 digs.

The Lady Miners return to action next weekend at the Mizuno GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Ill. S&T will play three games against GLIAC competition. Opponents and times will be released on Sunday night.