HUNTSVILLE, AL- For the first time in program history, the Miner volleyball team has opened their season with a 7-1 start after collecting wins over Mississippi College and Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) in the final day of the Charger Classic.

To open the day, S&T faced off against the Choctaws of Mississippi College.

S&T opened the match with an early 7-0 run to gain an 11-6 lead. MC would fight their way back into the set after multiple Miner errors.

Back and forth scoring from both team would send them past 25 with Mississippi College ending the set with a kill from Jamie Boros to take the 32-30 win.

MC came out in the second set strong, pushing themselves away from S&T early on a 4-0 run.

The Miners tied the set at 14-14 after Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) laid a kill down. But, the Choctaws once again pulled themselves away from S&T and took a 2-0 lead in the match after a 25-20 set win.

S&T came back with a vengeance in the third set; late in the set, the Miners went on a 9-1 run to gain a 20-13 lead. The Miners would keep that lead and end the set with a service ace from Widiker to force a fourth set.

The resilience of the Miners was unbeaten in the fourth set, once again going on a 6-1 run to gain an early 11-6 lead. S&T would never give up their lead in the set and would force a fifth and final set after Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) recorded one of her 17 kills.

It was all S&T in the fifth set behind Payton Gannaway's (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) six set kills. A big block from Schlader and Caroline Dykes (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) would end the match and give the Miners the 3-2 (30-32, 20-25, 25-16, 25-20, 15-10) win.

Gannaway led the way with a game-high 21 kills with seven block assists and one solo block while Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) and Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) recorded 17 and 10, respectively.

Sarah McGinnis (Middleton, Wis./Edgewood) was all over the court in match one with a career-high 44 assists while also picking up 15 digs in the process. Corinne Stucle led all players with 30 digs while Schlader and Widiker picked up a combined 29.

The Miners front line got a lot of help today between Gannaway and Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy); along with Gannaway's 4.5 blocks, O'Boyle also recorded 4.5 blocks to go with her seven kills.

It was all S&T in their final match of the Charger Classic with the Miners.

S&T gained an early lead in the opening set against the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) and never gave it up.

Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston), Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State), and Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) combined for five kills and a solo block to push their lead out to 10-5. Five more kills from Schlader and errors made by SWU combined for a 25-17 set one win.

S&T's hitters came out to play in the second set, recording 17 kills and taking full advantage of the Warriors errors. After gaining a 20-12 lead, SCU threatened the Miners lead with a 5-1 run that was cut off by a kill from Shelby Ply (Rolla, Mo./Rolla). S&T would finish out the set with four straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three ended quickly for the Miners are they held SCU to just four kills and a 0.00 hitting percentage. Their 25-11 win gave them the 3-0 match win and their best start in program history (7-1).

Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) led the way for the Miners with 16 kills and 12 digs while Corinne Stulce (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne) picked up another 20+ digs performance with 22.

The Miners will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Searcy, Ark. To take part in the Harding Tournament. Match play begins Friday at noon.