HUNTSVILLE, AL- The Miners opened play today at Alabama-Huntsville for their second week of matches. They ended day one with a split, earning a win over Ouachita Baptist and falling to host school, UAH.

In their opening match of the Charger Classic, the Miners made it interesting, not only going to five sets with Ouachita Baptist, but facing more than a 15 minute delay in the third set after the lights went out.

The Miners slowly pulled away from the Tigers in the first set going on an 8-1 run to push their lead out to 15-8. Multiple S&T errors would give OBU a chance to get within four, but kills from Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) and Calla Meyer (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas) would secure the 25-20 set win.

Both teams kept it close in the second set, neither one being able to pull away from the other.

OBU would start a 4-0 run after consecutive kills from Emily Low and Katie Camp that gave them a 22-20 lead. The Miners would jump back ahead with a service ace from Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) and kills from Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston), but, the Tigers would end the set with three straight points to take the 25-23 win and tie the match at 1-1.

Much like the opening set, the Miners had multiple runs to pull ahead of the Tigers in the third. A big block from Schlader and O'Boyle would put S&T up 18-14 late in the set. Schlader and Calla Meyer (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas) would do the same thing just a few minutes later to give them the 22-17 lead.

OBU would rally late in the set to make it a 23-21 game, but a kill laid down by Schlader and a set ending block from Meyer and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) would give the Miners the 25-21 win.
The Tigers ran away with the lead in the fourth set, going on an 8-0 run to start off.

S&T answered back with a 12-5 run to get within one of OBU, but the Tigers offense could not be stopped as they put down eight kills and took advantage of Miner errors to claim the fourth set 25-20.

It was all S&T in the fifth set; between the team's seven kills and multiple Ouachita Baptist errors, the Miners were able to hold on for the 15-7 set win and the 3-2 match win to stay undefeated for the season.

Multiple Miner players hit double-digit stats in the first match; Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) (19), Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) (12), Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) (11), and Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) (11) led the Miners offensively while Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) (22), Widiker (20), Schlader (13), and Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) (12) combined for 67 of the team's 81 digs of the match. S&T's front line was also solid against OBU; O'Boyle and Meyer both recorded six block assists while Gannaway and Schlader stopped four each.

In their second match of the day, the Miners faced off against host school, Alabama-Huntsville.

S&T was handed their first loss of the season after falling 1-3 (27-25, 14-25, 23-25, 23-25) to the Chargers.

After trailing for much of the first set, the Miners pulled ahead late on a 4-0 run with kills from Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) and Shelby Ply (Rolla, Mo./Rolla). UAH rallied for three points to make it a 25-24 game, but were unable to push past S&T. With a kill from Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston), a bad set by the Chargers, and a service ace from Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge), the Miners took set one 27-25.

Alabama-Huntsville took control of the second set, getting up by as much as 10 before taking the set 25-14.

UAH jumped out on top in the third set, taking a quick 10-5 lead. They held their lead for most of the set until the Miners came screaming back. Four consecutive errors from the Chargers put S&T just three points behind; but, kills from UAH's Kendall Scharbert and Isabelle Barnes gave the Chargers the 25-23 set win.

It was much the same in the fourth and final set; Alabama-Huntsville gained a lead early and never gave it up.

S&T fought their way within one of UAH after back-to-back blocks from Caroline Dykes (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State). Another kill from Gannaway would put the Miners within one of forcing a fifth set, but the offense of the Chargers was too much for S&T as they claimed the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) led the charge for the Miners in game two, each collecting 14 kills while Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) recorded 10 kills.

Corinne Stucle had a game-high 28 digs while Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) and Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) picked up 15 and 10, respectively.

The Miners will be back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for the final day of the Charger Classic.