Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team capped off an undefeated home weekend this Saturday (Oct. 6) afternoon as the Miners registered a season-high 14 total team blocks en route to a dominating 3-0 triumph (25-11, 25-22, 25-11) over Missouri-St. Louis in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action at S&T's Gibson Arena to finish with a pair of victories.  

The win improves Missouri S&T's record to 12-8 overall and 5-6 in the conference as the Miners won for the fourth time in six home encounters this season, which included a 3-1 decision over Maryville on Friday (Oct. 5) in Rolla.  UMSL was dealt its eighth consecutive defeat as the Tritons go to 7-13 overall and 3-9 in the GLVC.

The Miners turned in one of their best all-around performances of this season, particularly at the net as S&T rolled up 14 team blocks of which 26 were block assists.  The 26 total by the Miners was just one shy of matching the program's match record of 27 set by the 2015 squad against Cedarville on Oct. 16.  Individually, freshman Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) accumulated a match-high eight block assists while senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) compiled six and senior middle hitter Carson Talley (St. Louis, Mo./Affton) had five. 

S&T, which concluded the three-set match hitting for .304 percent (41-10-102) to UMSL's .093 success percentage (31-21-107), received a match-leading 11-kills performance from junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston).  Senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) was the other Miner to achieve double-figure kills with 10 as S&T claimed a 41-31 kills advantage.  

Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood), a redshirt sophomore setter, dished out a match-best 19 assists and was joined in double-digit assists department by sophomore setter Aubrey Sowers (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West), who chipped in with 10 helpers.  Payton Kennelly was UMSL's top assists leader with 16 total.
 
In digs, junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce's (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) 17 digs led all players.  Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) supplied 12 digs as both teams accumulated 43 apiece. 
Set 1: S&T 25 – UMSL 11
A dominating performance was turned in by Missouri S&T in the opening set as the Miners started out with a 12-5 lead.  S&T, which hit for a match set-high .400 attack percentage to UMSL's -.033 percentage, outscored the Tritons 9-4 in the next scoring sequences to extend its lead to 12 points at 21-9.  UMSL tallied the next point before the Miners countered by scoring the next three to make it 24-10 and a Triton service error on set point halted the action. 
 
Set 2: S&T 25 – UMSL 22
The second set was the most evenly played one as four tie scores and one lead change indicated.  The Miners, who recorded a .292 attack percentage, battled UMSL in the early going before snapping a nine-all tie by reeling off four straight points to lead 13-9.  A UMSL timeout paid dividends for the Tritons, who would hit at a .261 efficiency clip in the set, as the visitors fought back to get within a point (18-17).  Following an exchange of points, UMSL was able to cut its deficit to a single point one more time (21-20) only to have the Miners came out of a timeout by scoring three unanswered points to lead 24-20.  The Tritons managed to score the next two points to pull within 24-22 before a Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic)' kill dashed any hopes of an UMSL rally. 

Set 3: S&T 25 – UMSL 11
The third set almost mirrored the match's opening one as S&T took an 11-5 lead following a Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) kill.  The Miners then proceeded to outscore the Tritons, 10-3, and subsequently increased its margin to 21-8.  After trading points, which included a kill by Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) to establish set point, an UMSL a block assists from Combs along with Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) gave the Miners the match win.   
 
Up Next: Missouri S&T will be participating in the 2018 Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament next weekend, Oct. 12-13, at the The Academy Volleyball Club in Indianapolis, Ind.  The Miners are scheduled to play three matches in the annual regular-season tournament, which features a combined 38 NCAA Division II teams from the GLVC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).  S&T opponents will be announced within the next few days.    
 
Stay Tuned: Stay up to date with the Miners throughout the 2018 season via Twitter and Facebook.