St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team was able to get back in the win column this Saturday (Sept. 15) afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play following a tough conference loss last night as the Miners claimed a 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-14, 25-14) victory over the Maryville Saints at MU's Moloney Arena.
Missouri S&T, which registered a .316 hitting percentage to the Saints' .072 mark in the four-set match, was paced offensively by junior outside hitter
Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston), senior right-side hitter
Ellen Schulz, and senior outside hitter
Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic). Schlader led all players with 16 kills while Schulz produced a .579 attack percentage as a result of 13 kills in 19 hitting opportunities. Combs contributed 11 kills and hit at a .333 clip to help S&T claim a 48-33 lead in team kills.
Redshirt sophomore setter
Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) was tops in assists with a match-leading 32 total. Junior defensive specialist-libero
Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) dug up a match-most 19 balls while
Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and McGinnis recorded 13 and eight digs apiece to help S&T notch an 11-digs (60-49) advantage. Combs along with freshman middle hitter
Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) and freshman setter
Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) each served up a match-most tying two aces in the conference contest as the Miners won for the 15th consecutive time in their all-time series versus the Saints.
S&T, which is presently 9-4 and 2-2 in the GLVC this season, concluded the match with nine team blocks while Maryville, which drops to 4-9 overall and 0-5 in GLVC play with the loss, accumulated six team blocks. Junior middle hitter
Caroline Dykes (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence), who accounted for the contest's lone block solo, racked up a match-high five block assists.
Set 1: S&T 25 – MU 13
S&T came out on fire as the Miners hit at an impressive .480 efficiency clip while limiting the Saints to a .111 attack percentage. S&T surged to a 12-point lead at 19-7 following a
Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) kill and was able to extend its advantage to 13 points (23-10) on a
Caroline Dykes' (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) kill. A MU ball-handling miscue put the Miners on the brink of set point and a Saints' service error ended the set.
Set 2: MU 25 – S&T 21
Both teams were productive in set two from a hitting standpoint with S&T edging out Maryville .357 to .323 in attack percentage. The Saints accounted for 16 of the set's initial 25 points but the Miners gradually chipped away at their deficit to get within three at 24-21 on
Emilee Schlader's (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) seventh kill of the set. However, MU earned the second-set win by successfully denying a Schlader attack during set point.
Set 3: S&T 25 – MU 14
Neither team hit well in the third set as S&T finished .094 to Maryville's -.152 hitting efficiency. The margin remained narrow in the first half of the set, which featured six tie scores, before the Miners went on a 10-3 scoring run to take an 18-10 lead. The Saints could only get within nine points the rest of the way as Sarah Cavanuagh delivered a set-winning service ace following a kill by
Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic).
Set 4: S&T 25 – MU 14
A dominating performance was turned in by S&T in what proved to be the final set as the Miners topped out at .379 hitting proficiency with 13 kills on 29 chances. Defensively, S&T managed to hold Maryville to .029 hitting as the Saints had nine kills in 34 opportunities. A 15-5 run by the Miners to begin with put the visitors in a favorable position for success as S&T would lead 22-12 late in the fourth set. Three kills by a trio of Miners put the finishing touches on the set win and match victory.
Up Next: S&T continues GLVC action next weekend, Sept. 21-22, with a two-match home stand at Gibson Arena in Rolla, Mo. The Miners take on the nationally-ranked Lewis Flyers Friday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. (CT) and then close out the weekend's action Saturday, Sept. 22, with a 3 p.m. (CT) encounter versus the Indianapolis Greyhounds.
Stay Tuned: Stay up to date with the Miners throughout the 2018 season via Twitter and Facebook.
