ROLLA, Mo. – It was Senior Day Saturday at Gibson Arena as the Missouri S&T volleyball team was back in action opposite Lindenwood for their second match of the weekend. After taking the first two sets in convincing fashion, the Miners (15-7, 8-3) withstood a set three rally by the Lions (13-7, 6-3) as they went on to win in four sets 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 22-25, 25-18) to record their 10th win of the season at home.
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) got S&T on the board first in the match before Lindenwood took their first lead of the day over the following points. The Miners briefly retook the lead before the two sides traded points and were tied at 6-6 through the first 12 points. A
Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) kill and two Lion errors put S&T back in front for good at 9-6 and the Green & Gold continued to keep Lindenwood at bay for the remainder of the set. Even though LU managed to get within a point at times, a 7-1 run in the late going started by
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) and supplemented a pair of aces and kills from Gannaway,
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and
Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) to extend the lead to 22-15 as the Miners went on to a 25-17 win in the opener.
Lindenwood scored first and traded the early lead in set two before things tied up at 8-8. An 8-2 Miners run broke things wide open, taking advantage of some errors from the Lions and getting kills from Gananway, Burton, Ply and
Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) to make it 16-10. LU was able to get within four just two points later but no further as S&T kept their foot on the gas and collected a 25-16 win to lead the match 2-0.
Set three saw Lindenwood score first and again lead through the first 15 points at 8-7. A 6-0 spearheaded by Gannaway propelled the Miners ahead to 13-8 and as much as a seven-point edge at 19-12 following a kill from Burton. The Lions, with their backs against the wall, scored eight of the next nine points to get right back into the set and tie things at 20-20. A Gannaway kill put Missouri S&T back up by one but the lead wouldn't hold as Lindenwood got on the board with a 25-22 win.
As the match moved to set four, the first point again went to Lions but five of the next six points went to the Miners who took the lead behind more errors from the visitors. The Lions came back to tie things at 6-6 but that was the last time in the set things were close, as an 8-1 S&T run that included kills from Widiker and Gannaway to make it 14-8. Missouri S&T continued to extend their lead as the set progressed leading by as much as nine at 22-13 and fending off a late surge by the Lions to close things out with a 25-18 win.
Gannaway led the way with 17 kills and posted another double-double with 13 digs. Burton recorded 15 kills and hit .419 while Ply had 11 kills to go with an eye-popping .526 hitting percentage. Merjil dished out 49 assists while
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) and Widiker finished the match with 12 digs each.
Before the match, S&T recognized seniors
Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve),
Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, CO/Thunder Ridge), Netherlain, O'Boyle, Gannaway and student assistant coach Parker Zelei in a pre-match ceremony at midcourt.
Up next, S&T takes to the road for the first of six-straight away from Gibson Arena with a match at McKendree on Friday at 6 P.M.
