Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Miner volleyball squad clinched at least a share of the 2012 GLVC West Division title by sweeping past Illinois Springfield 3-0 (25-8, 25-22, 25-14) on Friday evening in Rolla. S&T can win the title outright with a win over Quincy or a Rockhurst loss at Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday.

The Miners (18-12, 14-3 GLVC) raced out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set and didn't let the Prairie Stars (10-19, 2-15 GLVC) get closer than four points the rest of the stanza. S&T had 16 kills against one error in 37 swings to finish hitting .405 percent. Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) and Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) paced the Miner attack with six and five kills respectively. Defensively, S&T held UIS to a negative .026 hitting percentage with seven kills against eight errors in 38 chances.

The second set was the tightest of the match featuring 17 ties and four lead changes. Neither side could muster more than a two-point lead until late in the set. S&T trailed 18-16 in the stanza, but finished on a 9-4 run to take the commanding 2-0 lead. The Miners hit .243 percent in the frame with 15 kills against six errors in 37 swings. The Prairie Stars hit .200 percent with 10 kills against four errors in 30 attempts.

The third set was tied 7-all before S&T scored four straight points and seven of the next eight points to take a 14-8 lead. UIS closed to within 14-10, but the Miners scored five straight to put a stranglehold on the match leading 19-10. The Prairie Stars would get to within nine points, but no closer as Meyer and Haslag recorded back-to-back kills to end the match. S&T recorded 20 kills against two errors in 35 chances and hit a set-high .514 percent. Haslag and Meyer combined for 15 of those kills. UIS hit .147 percent in the set with eight kills, three errors in 34 swings.

The Miners finished the match hitting .385 percent with 51 kills against nine errors in 109 chances. Meyer led the way with 16 kills while Haslag chipped in with 13. Kelly Kosmopolis (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) contributed eight kills to the attack. Jennifer Costello (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South ) dished out 40 assists while Jocelyn DeMotte (Topeka, Kan./Hayden) had 11 digs.

The Prairie Stars finished the match with 25 kills against 15 errors in 102 swings to hit .098 percent. Sara Baker led UIS with nine kills of the bench while Kellee Mahaffay had five kills. Rebeka Pruemer had 20 assists while Ashley King had 15 digs.

S&T closes out the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Quincy on senior day beginning at 3 p.m. The Miners will honor Costello, DeMotte, Kosmopolis, Jennifer Kegler (Ballwin, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) and Meyer before the match. S&T will also be going for its second straight GLVC West Division title.