(Rolla, Mo.) – Missouri S&T's defense had a difficult time slowing down the McKendree offense in a 3-1 (22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 24-26) loss on Saturday evening in Rolla. The Bearcats finished the match with 69 kills and had four players reach double figures.

After a slow start for the Miners (12-11, 7-5 GLVC) they quickly recovered to take a 15-11 advantage on a kill from Claire Friedlund (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South). McKendree (14-9, 8-4 GLVC) answered back with a 10-3 run to regain the lead at 21-18 on a double block by Sophie Fairman and Taylor Voss.

S&T cut the margin to two points three different times, but each time Lauren Apetz answered with a kill including the last three of the set to give the Bearcats the opener. Apetz finished the opening set with six of the Bearcats 19 kills.

The Miners scored the first two points of the second set, but the lead was short lived as McKendree countered with a 9-3 run to take the lead for good on another kill from Apetz. The Bearcats extended their lead to as many as five points at 19-14 on an attack error by Gracey Moon (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) forcing a timeout by S&T. Out of the timeout the Miners scored back-to-back points to get within three. That would be the closest it got as McKendree scored six of the last nine points to win the second set.

In the third set the Miners came out determined to extend the match as they raced out to a 10-5 lead. The Bearcats cut the margin to 11-9, but S&T quickly took the momentum back by scoring seven of the next 10 points to build its largest lead of the set at 18-12. McKendree began to chip away at the lead getting it down to a couple of points but were unable to overtake the Miners as they held on for a 25-22 lead to force a fourth set.

The fourth set saw 18 ties and four lead changes as it went back-and-forth for a majority of the frame. The Bearcats broke a 15-15 deadlock with back-to-back kills from Arela Williams only to see S&T counter with a kill from Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) and an error from Williams to even it back up. After the two sides continued to trade points it was the Miners who were the first to 20 on a kill from Jackie Zellmer (Nixa, Mo./Nixa). The lead was short lived though as McKendree regained the lead with two straight kills.

Moon brought S&T back even with a pair of kills, but the Miners just couldn't get over the hump as the Bearcats took a 24-22 lead on a kill from Williams. A service error and kill by Allie Plunk (Hurst, Texas/Birdville) tied the set at 24, but McKendree ended it with a kill from Williams and double block by Fairmain and Williams to win 26-24.

S&T finished the match with 53 kills against 20 errors in 167 chances and had a hitting percentage of .198. Alison Mueller (Bartelso, Ill./Mater Dei ) led the Miners with 12 kills while Moon contributed 11 to the attack. Plunk dished out 40 assists while Jackie Pyles (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield) had 30 digs.

The Bearcats hit .235 percent for the match registering 69 kills against 26 errors in 183 attacks. Apetz led all players with 20 kills while Williams added 18 and Kelsey Johnson finished with 12. Aubry Dickmann had 33 assists and Williams had 22 digs.

S&T concludes the home portion of its 2014 schedule on Sunday afternoon against Illinois Springfield at 1 p.m. The Miners will honor their six seniors prior to the start of the contest.