Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team utilized its home-court advantage against the William Jewell Cardinals this Saturday (Sept. 8) afternoon in a competitive Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup won by the Miners, 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21) at S&T's Gibson Arena. 
 
S&T, which upped its record to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in the GLVC to date this season, earned the league win against a determined conference opponent in WJC.  The Miners' victory represents their fifth in their last seven outings. With the loss, William Jewell is now 2-8 overall with an 0-2 GLVC mark. 
 
The Miners put forth a balanced offensive attack as three S&T players notched double figures in kills with junior outside hitter Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) taylling a match-high 19 total. S&T, which posted a .224 hitting percentage and accumulated 62 kills to WJC's 47 total in the contest, also received 15 kills from sophomore right-side hitter Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) and 13 from senior outside hitter Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic).  The Cardinals were led offensively by Maddie Wingert and Paitlyn Hardison with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.  On the defensive end, Olivia Tolberd's 19 digs was tops for WJC, which racked up 56 while S&T garnered 72 digs.
 
Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) enjoyed a productive day by hitting for a .342 attack percentage to go with her 19-kills output while Gannaway generated a .306 hit percentage for the Miners, who limited the Cardinals to a .141 percentage.   
 
S&T setters, redshirt sophomore Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) and freshman Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) set up 27 and 14 assists, respectively.  The top performer on the Miners' defensive side was junior defensive specialist-libero Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne), who dug out a match-most 30 WJC ball attacks.  Joining her in the double-digit digs department were junior defensive specialist-libero Eva Mich (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell Central) and Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) with 11 apiece.    
 
Set 1: S&T 25 – WJC 16
The Miners hit a match set-best .364 percentage with 15 kills on 33 chances to take set one.  S&T started out the set by going on a 20-9 tear and was never threatened by WJC the remainder of the set as the Cardinals posted a .105 hitting percentage.
 
Set 2: WJC 27 – S&T 25
The second set, which would consist of 12 tie scores and 10 lead changes, was a frustrating one for S&T as the Miners held a 16-10 advantage following a Carlie Combs' (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) kill. However, the Cardinals methodically chipped away at S&T's lead and were able to erase their deficit by knotting the set up at 18-apiece.  Five more ties would follow before the visitors snapped the final tie for good at 25-all with back-to-back points on a pair of Miner attack errors.   
 
Set 3: S&T 25 – WJC 23
S&T got back on track in the third set as the Miners posted a .189 hitting percentage while the Cardinals had a .135 success rate.   The set was close the entire way as evidenced by seven tie scores.  WJC overcame a narrow deficit and took a lead of 18-17 before S&T regained the upper hand with four unanswered points to go ahead 21-18. The Cardinals managed to draw within 23-22 but would get no closer as Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) hammered a pair of set-clinching kills.  
 
Set 4: S&T 25 – WJC 21
A productive .286 hitting attack by S&T keyed the fourth-set win as the Miners overcame an early deficit en route to securing the match victory.  S&T trailed 14-9 at one juncture but would go on to snap a 16-all tie with a 7-1 run to lead 23-17.  The Miners withstood a late Cardinal rally as WJC narrowed the gap to 24-21 before a kill by Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) dashed any hopes of a comeback.  
 
Up Next: S&T takes to the road in GLVC play next weekend, Sept. 14-15, in St. Louis, Mo.  The Miners square off against the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons next Friday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. (CT) before taking on the Maryville Saints Saturday, Sept. 15, in a 3 p.m. (CT) matinee. 
 
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