Box Score (Aurora, Ill.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners were on the comeback trail once again rallying from a 2-1 deficit to upset #25 Northern Michigan 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 15-25, 25-12, 17-15) on Friday evening at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover in Aurora, Ill. It's the Lady Miners first ever victory over a ranked opponent from the NCAA Division II ranks.
It was a very evenly played match throughout as there were 32 ties and 15 lead changes. S&T (16-6) had 60 kills in the contest and outhit the Wildcats (12-7) by a 24.4 percent to 18.7 percentage.
S&T held the biggest lead in the opening set at 19-14 before NMU ran off five straight to square it at 19-all. The Lady Miners regained the lead and were up 21-19 before the Wildcats ran off six of the next seven points in taking a 23-22 lead. S&T recovered scoring the final three points to win the set 25-23.
The second set was more of the same as the Lady Miners again built a five point lead late in the set. Leading 23-19 S&T struggled to put the set away as the Wildcats ran off the final six points to even the match at 1-1.
The third set belonged to Northern Michigan. It built a five point lead midway through and didn't look back in cruising to the 25-15 win and took the 2-1 lead.
The Lady Miners flipped the tables in the fourth set dominating throughout eventually building an 18-9 advantage. The Wildcats got as close as 19-11 but no closer as S&T scored six of the final seven points to 25-12 and force the fifth and deciding set.
In the finale the two sides swapped points through the first 10 before the Lady Miners scored three straight taking an 8-5 edge at the changeover. After the changeover NMU ran off three straight to tie it. From there the two sides exchanged point for point as the Wildcats were able to get to match point first on a kill by Lina Lopes. Lopes committed an error on her next attempt evening it at 14-all. Danielle Kowalski's block gave the Wildcats a 15-14 lead. It would be their last of the night. Jennifer Costello (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South ) and Kit Spears (Valley Center, Kan./Valley Center) blocked Lopes at the net evening it at 15-15. A ball handling error by Sami Vierk made it 16-15 in favor of the Lady Miners. S&T won it on the next swing as Hayley Wright (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) put home the winner in the back corner of the court.
Erin Bekebrede (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles) finished with 23 kills to lead S&T. Wright had 10 while Spears added nine more. Costello dished out 47 assists and had 12 digs. Jocelyn DeMotte (Topeka, Kan./Hayden) led four players in double figures with 18 digs.
Emma Wolfe had 18 kills to lead Northern Michigan. Lopes dropped in 11. Abby Lovell had 40 assists while Kalin Zimmerman had 18 digs.
S&T concludes play in the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover on Saturday against #11 Ferris State beginning at 1 p.m. in Aurora, Ill.