Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – A record-setting season-opening performance by the 2018 Missouri S&T women's volleyball team has now been established as the Miners improved their record to 5-1 overall this season as a result of a 3-1 win (15-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-19) versus Nova Southeastern (NSU) this Friday (Aug. 31) at the 11th annual NSU Shark Invitational, which is being held at NSU's Rick Case Arena.  
 
Missouri S&T, under first-year head coach Andy Halaz, is presently midst a two-match winning streak as the Miners completed opening-day NSU Shark Invite action going 2-0.  S&T began tourney play earlier in the day with a 3-1 decision over Babson (Mass.).  The 5-1 start surpasses the 4-2 season-opening marks set by the 2010 and 2015 Miner teams.
 
Junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader's (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) 21 kills led all players in the contest while senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) produced her fourth double-double of this season by digging up 12 opposition attacks to go with her 17 kills output.  The Miners received a noteworthy contribution from freshman right side-middle hitter Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve), who tallied seven kills in 10 chances for a .700 hit efficiency rating.   
 
Junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) supplied a match-leading 18 digs in the S&T victory. The Miners were active at the net as the team rolled up 8.5 total team blocks, led by freshman middle hitter Kiernan O'Boyle's (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) four block assists to go with a pair of solo blocks.  
 
Directing the S&T offense was redshirt sophomore setter Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood), who generated a match-most 30 assists while sophomore setter Aubrey Sowers (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) chalked up 15 helpers for the Miners, who top the Sharks in kills by a 58-42 margin and also outhit their opponent .297 to .184.
 
For Nova Southeastern, Maya Patterson and Denvyr Tyler-Palmer each had a team-high 11 kills as the Sharks fell to 0-5 on the year.  Tyler-Palmer also compiled 13 digs and was joined in double figures by Megan Burns, who paced NSU with 15 total.     
 
Set 1: NSU 25 – S&T 15
The host team lead from start to finish in the opening set as the Miners could get no closer than six points at 17-11 on an Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) kill.  NSU would proceed to tally seven of the next 10 points to go up 24-14 as the Sharks finished set one with a .556 attack percentage via 15 kills on 27 attempts to S&T's .233 percentage (13-6-30). 
 
Set 2: S&T 25 – NSU 20
In set two, S&T turned the tables on their counterparts as the Miners turned in a .378 hitting percentage and limited the Sharks to .143 attack efficiency.  S&T snapped an 11-all tie with four unanswered points for a 15-11 lead before NSU bounced back to cut its deficit to two at 20-18. But, the Miners scored four of the next five points as Carlie Combs' (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) kill gave the visitors a 24-19 advantage. A kill by sophomore right-side hitter Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) secured the set win.   
 
Set 3: S&T 25 – NSU 14
 S&T controlled set three play, breaking open the set by outscoring the Sharks 15-5 to take a 20-9 lead and never looked back.  While the Miners didn't particularly hit well as evidenced by their .194 percentage, S&T did a number on the defensive side limiting NSU to a -.031 attack percentage as the Sharks could only muster four kills in 32 opportunities.  
 
Set 4: S&T 25 – NSU 19
 The match's final set saw S&T fall behind early at 12-9, but the Miners overcame the deficit to tie the set all up at 14-apiece on a Carlie Combs' (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) kill.  The Miners, who outhit NSU .367 to .182 in the set, would gain the lead for good as Combs posted another kill as S&T managed to hold a 22-17 margin.  The Miners accounted for the set's final three points to take the match. 
 
Up Next:The Miners wrap up play in the two-day NSU Shark Invitational this Saturday (Sept. 1) with a pair of matches against Texas A&M International and Lynn (Fla.).  Match times are 11:30 a.m. (CT) and 4:30 p.m. (CT), respectively.
 
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