St. Charles, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team picked right up where they left off as the Miners extended their current season-opening win streak to three straight with a 3-0 sweep over Chadron State (25-21, 25-12, 25-22) this Saturday (Aug. 25) morning in 2018 Lindenwood Invitational action at LU's Hyland Arena.
 
The Miners, who are off to their best start since going 4-0 to start the 2015 campaign, hit .277 for the match while limiting Chadron State (0-3 overall) to a .064 attack percentage.
 
Junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) paced S&T in kills with a match-high 17 total and was the only player to produce a double-digit number.  Senior right-side hitter Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) contributed nine kills to go with a .381 hitting percentage (9-1-21) and freshman middle hitter Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) notched six kills while hitting at .462 efficiency (6-0-13).  CSC was led by Dominika Senkerikova's seven kills.
 
Missouri S&T's setting tandem of freshman Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) and redshirt sophomore Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) registered 19 and 12 assists, respectively.  Junior defensive specialist Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) keyed the Miners' solid defensive performance with a match-best 19 digs while Schlader racked up 11 digs to notch a double-double and also provided five assisted blocks. Freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) turned in another productive effort at the net as she chalked up six block assists and had a pair of block solos.  Junior middle hitter Caroline Dykes (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) chipped in with four block assists. 
 
The Miners posted a commanding 41-26 kills advantage and also claimed the defensive battles at 45-41 in digs and 12.0 to 2.0 in blocks.
 
In the opening set, S&T tallied three unanswered points late to go up 23-19 before the Eagles scored twice to get within 23-21.  However, a kill from Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) proceeded by Avery Reed's (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) set-point kill resulted in a Miners' win.
 
A 16-9 Missouri S&T start in set two, which included four consecutive points, put the Miners in a highly-advantageous position as S&T cruised to a 25-12 decision while generating a .400 hitting percentage (11-3-20).
 
The third set, which saw S&T hit at a .333 clip (16-3-39), was a close one throughout as the two teams were deadlocked at 22 apiece.  An Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) kill put the Miners up 23-22 and an Eagles' attack error gave S&T a two-point lead at 24-22.  Set point would come on the ensuing play as Ellen Schulz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) hammered a Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) set for the winning score and the match victory.        
 
S&T wraps up Lindenwood Invitational play this evening (Aug. 25) as the Miners seek to keep their season record unblemished with a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup against the host Lindenwood Lions.