Springfield, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team battled nationally 12th-ranked Drury all four sets in Tuesday's (Oct. 2) Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) contest, but fell behind after the third set and couldn't catch back up as the Panthers tagged the Miners with a 3-1 loss (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19) at DU's O'Reilly Family Event Center.

The Miners, who did register a 51-49 advantage in kills for the match, featured three individuals with double-digit kill totals.  Junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) hammered a match-best tying 16 kills to lead S&T, which compiled a .130 hitting percentage (51-30-162) for the contest.  Sophomore right-side hitter Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) and senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) also cracked the double-digit kills column with 11 apiece.  Senior right-side hitter Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) added seven kills.

Redshirt sophomore setter Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) passed out 24 assists to go with 12 digs while sophomore setter Aubrey Sowers (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) notched 18 helpers.  Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston), who also registered 13 digs, keyed the service game for S&T with a match-leading four and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) served up two aces as the Miners racked up seven as a team.  Junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce's (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) 23-digs output was tops for S&T, which trailed the Panthers 68-65 in the defensive statistical category.

S&T chalked up eight team blocks in encounter, which included three block assists from senior middle hitter Carson Talley (St. Louis, Mo./Affton) and freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy).  Schlader and Combs accounted for the Miners' two block solos with one apiece.

Drury was led in kills by Emmalee Chrest with 16 and Bentley Mara added 10 while Bree Schmidt's 28 digs led all players in the match.  The Panthers concluded the four-set match with a .177 hitting percentage (49-23-147). 

The Miners drop to 10-8 overall and 3-6 in the GLVC with the loss while Drury is now 15-3 overall with an 8-1 conference mark following the home victory.
 
Set 1: Drury 25 – S&T 22
The first set, which consisted on seven ties and four lead changes, saw both teams challenge each other as the largest lead for either squad was four points.  A Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) kill late in the set cut the Panthers' lead to one point at 22-21 and the teams exchanged a point to follow as Drury would hold a 23-22 edge.  A S&T attack error proceeded by a Panthers' kill resulted in the winning margin for Drury, which registered a match-best .286 hitting percentage (12-2-35) for the opening set. 
 
Set 2: S&T 25 – Drury 22
Trailing 1-0 in the match, Missouri S&T was undeterred as the Miners posted their highest attack percentage in the match at .229 with 14 kills on 35 hitting opportunities.  The second set like the opening set also featured seven tie scores and four lead exchanges.  S&T evened the set up at 17-apiece on Ellen Schulz's (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) kill and regained the lead for good with three consecutive points to go up 20-17.  Drury came back to draw within 22-21 only to have the Miners net the next two points to make it 24-21.  A kill by Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) at set point gave S&T the set win to even the match at one win apiece.   

Set 3: Drury 25 – S&T 21
Missouri S&T took the early lead holding a 14-9 advantage, but the Panthers scratched back by going on a 9-4 scoring run to pull into an 18-all deadlock.  Two more ties would follow before Drury went ahead 21-20 and then reeled off three straight points for a 24-20 to establish set point.  An Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) kill narrowed the Miners' margin to three points (24-21), but a S&T service error proceeded to give the Panthers the third-set decision.

Set 4: Drury 25 – S&T 19
The match's final set saw Drury score 10 of the match's final 14 points as the Panthers, who hit for a .219 percentage to the Miners' .089 clip, broke open a 15-all tie.  S&T had jumped out to a 10-4 advantage to commence the set only to have the Panthers outscore the Miners 7-1 from that point forward.      
 
Up Next: The Miners return home to the friendly confines of Gibson Arena this weekend (Oct. 5-6) for two conference outings in Rolla, Mo. Missouri S&T hosts the Maryville Saints this Friday (Oct. 5) at 7 p.m. (CT) before squaring off against the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons Saturday (Oct. 6) at 3 p.m. (CT).   
 
Stay Tuned: Stay up to date with the Miners throughout the 2018 season via Twitter and Facebook.