Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Miners nearly blew a 2-0 lead but were able to hold off the Bellarmine Knights for a 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 24-26, 15-9) win on Friday evening at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) finished with a career-high 22 kills to lead three Miners (18-8, 9-3 GLVC) in double figures. Gracey Moon (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) and Shelby Wagner (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit) chipped in with 14 each while Ashley Allegri (Leawood, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) added a career-high nine kills off the bench.

S&T started the match strong scoring six of the first eight points and continued to lead by three at the midway point of the set. The Knights (10-16, 2-10 GLVC) proceeded to score five straight points to grab its first lead of the set on a service ace by Margaret Horihan. Bellarmine pushed the lead to 20-18 when the Miners countered with a 5-1 run of their own to retake the lead on a double block by Haslag and Wagner. Haslag ended the frame with back-to-back kills to give S&T the opener 25-22.

The Miners built a seven-point lead midway through set two before the Knights mounted a run to get within 19-17 after a kill by Megan Kimbley. S&T countered pushing its lead to 24-19 after a kill from Wagner but struggled to close out the set giving up four straight points to allow Bellarmine to get within 24-23. Haslag and Wagner teamed up to block Horihan to give the Miners the win 25-23 and the 2-0 lead.

After the intermission the Knights came out the aggressors scoring the first four points of the third stanza and never relinquished the lead. They led by as many as six in the set and didn't let S&T get any closer than one. Bellarmine hit .314 in the frame registering 13 kills against two errors in 35 swings.

The Miners tried to stem the Knights momentum opening set four by scoring the first four points but were unable to pull away as Bellarmine used a 9-1 run to take a 13-9 lead. S&T fought back to regain the lead in the back-and-forth set and had a chance to close it out leading 24-23 but gave up three straight points with the last one being a kill by Allie Muha to force the fifth and deciding set.

The Miners raced out to an early lead in the finale scoring four of the first five points only to watch the Knights come back to even it at six. S&T responded with four straight points to take control of frame and didn't allow Bellarmine to get closer than three points the rest of the way. Haslag paced the offense with three kills in the final frame with Wagner and Claire Friedlund (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) adding two each.

The Miners finished the match with 76 kills and had an attack percentage of .263. Alexis White (Auburn, Wash./Riverside) dished out a school record 64 assists in the win while Jackie Pyles (White Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) led four players in double figures with 23 digs. White also had 17 digs while Cydney Denning (San Antonio, Texas/Brandeis ) had 16 and Caitlin Brocker (Crystal Lake, Ill./Marian Central ) chipped in with 10.

The Knights were held to 62 kills and had a hitting percentage of .214. Horihan led three Bellarmine players in double figures with 18 kills. Kimbley added 14 and Ashley Jefferson finished with 10. Muha distributed 44 assists while Horihan and Jordyn Kuchenbrod led the way with 20 digs apiece.

S&T plays its final home match of the season on Saturday afternoon hosting the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles at 3 p.m. USI was swept at Drury on Friday evening. The Miners will honor their four seniors prior to the start of the match.