Indianapolis, Ind. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team played well enough to win this Friday's (Oct. 12) Midwest Region Crossover Tournament opener, but Lake Erie managed to overcome a 2-1 deficit by winning the match's final two sets in claiming a 3-2 decision (25-17, 27-29, 25-21, 20-25, 13-15) over the Miners at The Academy Volleyball Club.

Missouri S&T won the matchup in kills by a 73-65 margin along with posting a .254 hitting percentage to Lake Erie's .215 efficiency rate and also edged out the Storm 6-5 in service aces.  Both teams chalked up nine total team blocks apiece and Lake Erie notched an 80-70 digs advantage in the five-set contest.

Senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) led all players with both a match-best and personal season-high 25 kills on .270 hitting.  Junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) was the other lone Miner to tally double-digit kills by hammering 14 total.  Freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) contributed nine kills on 14 attempts to produce a .500 percentage and senior right-side hitter Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) added eight kills on 19 attack opportunities in finishing with a .421 attack efficiency mark for Missouri S&T, which its overall record dips to 12-9 this season.  Courtney Rosebrook's 18 kills lead three Storm players in double-figure kills as LEC presently stands at 15-7 this fall following the win. 

S&T's setters, redshirt sophomore Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) and sophomore Aubrey Sowers (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West), combined for 55 of the team's 61 assists with McGinnis setting up 33 helpers and Sowers had 22 assists.

On the defensive side, three Miners concluded the match by generating double-digit digs with junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce's (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) 20 paving the way for S&T.  Joining Stulce were Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) with 15 digs and Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood), who dug up 10 attacks by the opposition.  Lake Erie's Morgan Briggs along with Crystal Kendroske racked up the match's most digs with 27 and 22, respectively. 

The Miners garnered nine total blocks for the outing, which included eight block assists and the five block solos.  Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) had three block assists to go with a match-most three service aces.  Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) was also productive at the net as indicated by her two block solos and assists apiece. 
 
Set 1: S&T 25 – LEC 17
The Miners jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Lake Erie rallied with a 8-3 run to get within a point at 13-12.  But, S&T would go on a scoring spurt of its own as the Miners scored eight of the next 10 points to make it 21-14 before going on to win the first set. 
 
Set 2: LEC 29 – S&T 27
The two teams battled back and forth in set two, which consisted of 17 tie scores and six lead exchanges.  S&T was on the verge of winning the set as a Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic)' kill had given the Miners a 23-23 lead.  However, LEC came out of a timeout with back-to-back points to take a 25-24 advantage and force a S&T timeout.  The next two points were scored by the Miners, who recorded a .250 attack percentage to the Storm's .371 hitting clip in the set, as S&T held a 26-25 edge.  The Storm accounted for two of the next three points to go ahead 28-27 and netted the game-winner on set point by virtue of a block assist on a S&T attack attempt. 

Set 3: S&T 25 – LEC 21
S&T took a 2-1 lead in the match by winning the third set as the Miners scored the final three points after the Storm had narrowed the gap to 22-21.  A 16-8 start by S&T was eventually trimmed to a single point (22-21) as Lake Erie proceeded to go on a 13-6 spurt to make the set a close one.   
  
Set 4: LEC 25 – S&T 20
Lake Erie hit for a blistering .593 percentage with 17 kills in 27 opportunities in set four to overshadow S&T's respectable .371 hitting percentage (18-5-35).  The Storm broke open a 10-all deadlock with two consecutive points and never trailed the rest of the way.  The Miners managed to pull within 20-18 following a kill by Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) only to have LEC reel off three straight points to lead 23-18 as the Storm was able to even the match and force a deciding fifth set.    

Set 5: LEC 15 – S&T 13
The fifth set, which had four ties, began with neither team giving up ground as the score was knotted up at seven-all through the initial 14 points produced.  Lake Erie was able to tally the next three points and take an 11-7 advantage before the Miners duplicated the scoring spurt with one of their own to pull within 11-10.  Three of the next four points were won by the Storm, who maintained a 14-11 cushion.  S&T was able to capitalize on a called timeout to a degree of sorts as the Miners garnered the next two points to draw within 14-13, but the Storm came up with the match-winning kill to record the win.     

Up Next: Missouri S&T continues its 2018 Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament action this Saturday (Oct. 13) morning at 10 a.m. (CT) as the Miners face the Ursuline Arrows in Indianapolis, Ind., in their second of three tournament matches.

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