Austin, Texas – The Missouri S&T Miner volleyball team opened its 2015 campaign with a pair of wins on Friday at the Hilltopper Classic hosted by St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. In its opener the Miners defeated Franklin Pierce University 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 25-15) and then defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) in the nightcap.

S&T (2-0) raced out to a 7-0 lead to begin the match against the Ravens (1-1) as the Miners took advantage of some early errors. S&T though gave back some points due to errors of their own which allowed FPU to go on a 10-3 run to even the match at 10-all. The Miners countered with a 7-3 run of its own to regain the lead at 17-13 only to watch the Ravens charge back to take their first lead of the match at 20-19. The two sides traded points before S&T was able to close the set scoring the final five points. The Miners took advantage of two attack errors and a bad set by the Ravens to close it out.

The Miners got off to another fast start in the second set opening with an 8-1 run to take the commanding lead. They didn't allow Franklin Pierce to get any closer than eight points during the set eventually taking it 25-13. S&T had just seven kills in the set, but forced the Ravens into 15 errors and held them to a negative .256 attack percentage.

In the third set Franklin Pierce flipped the roles as it raced out to an early five point but the Miners were able to regroup and eventually tie the set at 15-all. Four straight S&T errors allowed the Ravens to take a 20-16 lead, but the Miners wouldn't go away scoring six of the next eight points to even it at 22. FPU got a pair of kills from Katie Liedhold scored three of the last four points to force a fourth set.

The fourth set began just like the second one as S&T ran off eight of the first nine points and wouldn't look back on its way to building an 11-point lead before settling on the 10-point final margin.

The Miners finished the match with 49 kills against 30 errors in 172 attempts to finish the match with a hitting percentage of .110. The defense though held the Ravens to a zero hitting percentage. Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) had a match high 14 kills while Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and Claire Friedlund (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) had eight kills each.

Liedhold led Franklin Pierce with 10 kills while Aiden Garcia finished the match with nine kills.

In the nightcap against Southwestern Oklahoma (1-2), S&T scored the first five points and never let go of the lead as it led by seven points for a majority of the set. Both sides finished the stanza with 11 kills but the Bulldogs committed six errors to four for the Miners.

The second frame was the tightest of the three featuring seven ties and a pair of lead changes. SWOSU held a 16-14 lead midway through the set but S&T closed it out going an 11-5 run to overcome the deficit and take the commanding lead. Combs had four kills in the set deciding run.

The Miners hit over 40 percent in the third set recording 16 kills against three errors in 32 chances overcoming an early hole. S&T used a 12-4 to take the lead and didn't allow the Bulldogs to get any closer than two points the rest of the way. The Miners led by as many as nine points in the set, but SWOSU wouldn't go quietly staving off four match points to close within five before S&T closed it out on a service error from the Bulldogs.

The Miners had 42 kills in the nightcap and had an attack percentage of .320. Combs led all players with a match high 14 kills while Haslag and Claire Luther (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) had eight kills each. Alexis White (Auburn, Wash./Riverside) dished out 33 assists while Jackie Pyles (White Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) had 15 digs.

Southwestern Oklahoma finished the match with an attack percentage of .179 recording 34 kills against 15 errors in 106 chances. Carley Zak led the Bulldogs with 11 kills while Kayle Hebert had 24 assists and Kaila Lancaster added 20 digs.

S&T plays two more in Austin on Saturday at the Hilltopper Classic. It will take on Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) at 2 p.m. and Tiffin University (Ohio) at 6 p.m.