ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri S&T volleyball team took to the road for some midweek Great Lakes Valley Conference action Tuesday night, making the short trip up I-44 to take on rival Missouri-St. Louis. The Miners (11-4, 5-2) managed to keep pace with the Tritons (11-4, 6-1) through the first set of the night, but were unable to sustain that momentum as the match progressed, falling in straight sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-13).
 
 Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) registered the first kill of the evening to give S&T the first lead of the match as the two sides matched each other point for point in the early going. The Miners led by a pair at 7-5 following an Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) kill but UMSL managed to tie things before managing to take the lead at 9-8 shortly after. The Tritons continued to lead as the set progressed and Missouri S&T was able to get within one at 16-15 following kills from Gannaway and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), but unfortunately were unable to gain any further ground as UMSL went on to take the set 25-22.
 
The Tritons charged out to an early lead to begin set two and led 11-4 after the first 15 points of action as S&T struggled to find their footing offensively. Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) tallied a pair of kills in the set, but the deficit was too much to overcome as UMSL took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-12 set win.
 
Set three saw a determined S&T squad come out swinging as they looked to extend the match, with Gannaway collecting two kills to open the frame. The two sides again traded points in the early offing but much like the rest of the night, UMSL managed to slide in front and slowly pull away, building another large lead as they wrapped up the night with a 25-13 win.
 
Gannaway finished the night with 10 kills and six digs, while Mason, making her first career start, finished the evening with six kills and was in on a pair of blocks. Widiker tallied five kills and seven digs as Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) dished out 22 assists while also posting a trio of kills and seven digs of her own. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) led S&T with eight digs for the match.
 
The Miners return home to Gibson Arena for a pair of matches this weekend, first against Illinois Springfield at 7 P.M. Friday night followed by a date with thirteenth-ranked Lewis at 3 P.M. Saturday.