Liberty, Mo. – After a hard fought Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) five-set match, the Missouri S&T women's volleyball team couldn't top William Jewell in the deciding set as the Miners were handed a 3-2 loss (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 16-25, 15-7) by the host Cardinals this Friday (Nov. 2) evening at WJC's Mabee Center.   

The setback, which puts the Miners' season record at 15-14 overall and 7-10 in the GLVC, overshadowed a match-high 25-kill performance from senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic).  She was joined in double-figure kills by junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) and sophomore right-side hitter Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State), who recorded 16 and 15, respectively as S&T would claim a 67-59 advantage in kills.   Like the Miners, William Jewell placed three individuals in the double-digit kills column led by Grace Baucom's 13 total.

Directing the Miners' offensive attack were redshirt sophomore setter Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) and freshman Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge).  The pair combined for 57 of the squad's 66 team total with McGinnis accounting for 36 of S&T's helpers.  The Miners, who had three individuals with double-digit dig totals, were paced by junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce's (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) 30 digs.  Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) chalked up 19 digs and junior defensive specialist-libero Eva Mich (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell Central) contributed 12 as the S&T would outdig its opponent by a 95-86 margin.  WJC's Stef Richterkessing led all players in the match with a 33-digs effort.

In blocking, freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) provided with block solo along with two block assists while senior middle hitter Carson Talley (St. Louis, Mo./Affton) netted a pair of block assists.  The Cardinals, who finished their season at 12-20 overall and 6-12 in the GLVC with tonight's win, received five block assists and a block solo from Elizabeth Quinn as the host team won the statistical battles in hitting percentage (.202 to .188) and total team blocks (10.0 to 6.0).

  
Set 1: WJC 25 – S&T 19
William Jewell broke up a 10-all tie with three straight points en route to holding the lead for the rest of the opening set.  S&T was able to get within two points (18-16) before the Cardinals went on a 4-0 scoring run to increase their margin to 22-16.  WJC would then claim two of the next three points scored to reach set point although the Miners tallied two unanswered points to make it 24-19.  However, the winning point was scored next on a kill as the Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead in the match.  

Set 2: S&T 25 – WJC 22
Down 1-0, S&T came back in the second set as the Miners took an early 16-9 lead.  To their credit, the Cardinals managed to narrow their margin down to two points 24-22, but had no room for error at set point as a Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) kill sealed the set for the Miners.  S&T turned in a .250 attack percentage (15-4-44) for the set while limiting William Jewell to a .122 hitting percentage (15-9-49). 

Set 3: WJC 25 – S&T 22
The Cardinals regained the upper hand by turning in a productive .341 hitting percentage (16-2-41) though the hosts had to survive a tough test from the Miners.  The set, which consisted of 10 ties and two lead changes, was knotted up at 22-apiece before William Jewell tallied three consecutive points for the win.  S&T, which hit at a .262 clip (17-6-42), led 12-11 at one point before seven additional tie scores would occur.  

Set 4: S&T 25 – WJC 16
The Miners displayed resiliency by coming back from a 2-1 match deficit to capture the win in set four and force a deciding fifth set, which did have eight tie scores.  Tied up at eight-all, S&T went on an 8-2 tear to go up 15-10.  However, the Cardinals rallied to score the next three points to get within 15-13 before the Miners generated the next four points to show 19-13 on the scoreboard.  S&T would eventually post a 24-15 lead following an Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) kill to reach set point where she atoned for an attack error on the previous play by hammering a set-winning kill.  The set featured a match-best .306 hitting percentage (19-4-49) from the Miners, who also did a commendable defensive job on WJC by limiting the Cardinals to a .091 hit efficiency mark.

Set 5: WJC 15 – S&T 7
A 5-0 William Jewell start in the decisive set quickly put S&T in an unfavorable position which the Miners weren't able to overcome.  The Cardinals would lead 10-4 and then 13-6 before the teams exchanged a single point.  WJC, which produced just a .056 hitting percentage in the set, received the winning point on a S&T ball-handling error as the Miners struggled from an offensive standpoint as their -.273 attack percentage indicated. 

Up Next: Missouri S&T concludes its 2018 season this Saturday (Nov. 3) afternoon as the Miners go up against the 23rd nationally-ranked Rockhurst Hawks in Kansas City, Mo.  Opening serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT) at RU's Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse.

Stay Tuned: Stay up to date with the Miners throughout the 2018 season via Twitter and Facebook.