Aurora, Ill. – After dropping the opening set the Missouri S&T Miners rallied to take the next three to defeat Lake Superior State 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 29-27) at the Midwest Region Crossover in Aurora, Ill., on Saturday morning.
Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) finished with a career-high 16 kills to lead S&T (7-14) while
Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) added 14 and
Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) finished with 10.
The Miners held a three-point lead late in the opening and eventually got to set point at 24-22 but were unable to close the set out as the Lakers (2-15) scored the final four points to win the opener. S&T hit .175 in the opening set while Lake Superior hit .167
The Miners trailed for a majority of the second set and appeared to be staring at on 0-2 deficit as they trailed 20-16. S&T responded with an 8-1 run getting some big kills from Gannaway, Schlader and
Calla Meyer (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas) and also got two huge blocks from Schlader and Combs to take a 24-21 lead. The Lakers cut the margin to 24-22 when
Alexis White (Auburn, Wash./Riverside) was called for being in the next but the Miners took advantage of a LSSU error to win the set 25-22 and even the match at 1-1.
S&T used a 12-3 run early in set three to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 17-9 advantage. Gannaway and Schlader combined for four kills in that run. The Lakers got as close as five points but the Miners were able to hold off the late charge getting a kill from
Kyley Thompson (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) and a block from Schlader and Gannaway to win 25-18.
The fourth set went back and forth early before S&T began to gain some separation building a 14-9 lead. They were still in front by four when LSSU used an 8-3 run to regain the lead at 21-20 on a service ace from Jena Tulgestke. The Miners regained the lead by scoring three of the next four points but the Lakers fought back getting to set point first. S&T tied it at 24 on a kill from Combs then the two sides proceeded to swap the next six points. With the frame tied at 27 Schlader put the Miners back in front with a solo block and then ended it on the next point with a kill.
The Miners finished the contest with .198 hitting percentage and registered 59 kills.
Alexis White (Auburn, Wash./Riverside) handed out 32 assists, Combs and
Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) had 18 digs apiece and Schlader finished with seven blocks.
S&T held Lake Superior to a .144 hitting percentage and 55 kills. Brooke Williams finished with 11 kills while Amanda Reid and Kyra Vezina added 10 kills each. Madison Castle finished with 28 assists and Paige Gotham had a match-high 22 digs.
The win on Saturday morning marked the 150
th in the history of the Miner volleyball program dating back to 2007.
