Rolla, Mo. – The home opener for the Missouri S&T women's volleyball team this Friday (Sept. 7) started out well for the Miners but nationally eighth-ranked Rockhurst had too much firepower in recording a 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-19, 25-12) in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opener for both teams at S&T's Gibson Arena.   
 
Senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) led the way for Missouri S&T as the pair combined for 23 of the Miners' 33 team kills.  S&T, which hit .144 for the contest, received a team-leading 12 kills from Combs while Schlader registered 11 kills to go with a .276 hitting percentage as the Miners drop to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in GLVC play as a result of the setback.
 
Junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) totaled 14 digs to pace S&T while junior defensive specialist-libero Eva Mich (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell Central) also cracked the double-figure digs column with 12 digs despite the Hawks having a 59-53 statistical advantage.  Directing the S&T offense was redshirt sophomore setter Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood), who set up 22 assists and chipped in with nine digs.
 
Rockhurst, which is now 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC, was paced offensively by Alyssa Woodman and Karli Reichert with 19 and 10 kills, respectively.  The Hawks concluded the match with a .301 hitting percentage and posted four team blocks to S&T's five team total.     
 
Set 1: RU 25 – S&T 21
The opening set generated a lot of excitement from the 300-plus fans in attendance as the Miners and Hawks battled one another virtually all the way in a set which featured six ties.  A RU attack error pulled S&T into a 15-all tie but the Hawks went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-17 lead.  The Miners fought back to narrow the gap to three on two occasions (23-20 and 24-21), but couldn't prevent the visitors from scoring set point.  Rockhurst ended the first set hitting for .233 efficiency while S&T made good on .125 of its hitting opportunities. 
 
Set 2: RU 25 – S&T 19
Twelve tied scores and seven lead changes occurred in the second set as S&T bounced back to hit a respectable .250 only to have the Hawks produce a solid .341 success rate in attack attempts.  A 5-2 scoring spurt by Rockhurst snapped a 16-all deadlock as the Hawks built a 21-18. Following a S&T timeout, managed to get within 23-19 on Emilee Schlader's (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) kill before RU countered with back-to-back kills for the set victory.  
 
Set 3: RU 25 – S&T 12
The final set was a one-sided one as Rockhurst jumped out to a 17-8 lead and never looked back.  S&T would get to within eight points at 18-10 on a Carlie Combs' (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) kill only to have RU score four straight to increase its margin to 22-10.  The Hawks, who turned in a match-best .345 hitting percentage (13-3-29) in the set, limited the Miners to a .033 attack percentage (7-6-30).  
  
Up Next: S&T concludes its conference-opening homestand this Saturday (Sept. 8) as the William Jewell Cardinals visit Gibson Arena in Rolla.  Opening serve is set for 3 p.m. (CT).
 
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