Louisville, Ky. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team had a 2-1 match lead slip away in this Saturday's (Oct. 20) Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) tilt against Bellarmine as the Knights capitalized on the opportunity to win the final two sets en route to tagging the Miners with a 3-2 loss (13-25, 25-21, 25-15, 13-25, 10-15) at BU's Knights Hall.

Missouri S&T, which is 14-11 overall and 6-7 in the GLVC to date this season, dropped the first set but bounced back to win the next two. But, Bellarmine bounced back to win set four and carried the momentum into the deciding fifth set with a five-point decision.

The Miners had three players notch double-figure kills as the squad hit for a .136 percentage in the contest.  Junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) totaled a match-high tying 15 kills to lead the S&T offense, which received 14 kills from senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and 11 by sophomore right-side hitter Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State).  S&T's two primary setters, redshirt sophomore Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) and sophomore Aubrey Sowers (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) both chalked up 24 and 17 assists, respectively.

Junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) registered a team-most 22 digs and was the lone Miner to compiled a double-digit output.  Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) chipped in with nine digs and Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) dug up eight offensive hitting attacks by the Knights.  At the net, freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) claimed four block assists and one block solo to lead the way.

Bellarmine, which generated a .207 attack percentage and produced 16 team blocks for the match, improved to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in the GLVC with the victory. 

Set 1: BU 25 – S&T 13
A 10-5 Bellarmine lead to start the opening set put S&T at a disadvantage of which the Miners were unable to recover from.  S&T narrowed the Knights' deficit to 13-10 only to have BU proceed to outscore the Miners 12-3 the rest of the way.

Set 2: S&T 25 – BU 21
The second frame saw S&T overcome a small deficit to knot the set up at 18-apiece on a kill by senior outside hitter Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka). The Miners then took a 20-18 lead and never relinquished their advantage for the remainder in holding on for the win. 

Set 3: S&T 25 – BU 15
A dominating third-set performance was turned in by S&T as the Miners recorded a 21-9 advantage as Bellarmine could get no closer than nine points (24-15) at set point.  S&T played exceptionally well as the Miners notched a .435 hitting percentage with 11 kills in 23 attempts.

Set 4: BU 25 – S&T 13
Bellarmine started off the fourth set with four unanswered points and proceeded to gradually built up its lead to a nine (20-11).  The Knights, who hit at a .364 efficiency clip in the set, outpointed the Miners 5-1 in the final stretch to even the match,  

Set 5: BU 15 – S&T 10
The all-deciding fifth set began with Bellarmine tallying eight of the first 11 points.  S&T rallied to get within two points at 11-9 on a kill by Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) to cap a 6-3 Miner scoring run.  The Knights utilized their .360 hit percentage in the set to go up 13-10 and force a S&T timeout.  The Miners, who recorded a .161 attack percentage, committed an attack error to set up set point and Bellarmine produced a kill to clinch the match.

Up Next: Missouri S&T returns to Rolla, Mo., next week for three GLVC matches to cap off its final home stand of the 2018 season.  The Miners begin action at S&T's Gibson Arena Tuesday, Oct. 23, against nationally-ranked Drury in a 7 p.m. (CT) encounter.  S&T takes on Truman State Friday, Oct. 26, in its annual Dig Pink Match at 7 p.m. (CT) before closing out its home schedule Saturday, Oct. 27, versus Quincy at 3 p.m. (CT).  Prior to S&T's season home finale contest, the Miners will pay tribute to their three senior student-athletes - Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic), Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka), and Carson Talley (St. Louis, Mo./Affton) in a special ceremony.

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