ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri S&T volleyball team was back in action Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena to wrap up their weekend at home against 13th-ranked Lewis in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this season. The short-handed Miners (12-5, 6-3) gave the Flyers (14-4, 9-1) all they could handle, but it wasn't enough as the visitors picked up a straight sets win (25-14, 25-22, 25-13).
 
Lewis scored first in set one and led comfortably in the early going before the Miners closed to within one at 12-11 behind a 6-2 run fueled by kills from Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central). Unfortunately, S&T could not sustain the run as the Flyers scored eight of the next nine points to rebuild their lead and go on to take the set 25-14.
 
The Miners scored the first three points of the second set behind a pair of kills from Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) and led through the first nine points before the Flyers tied things up and took the lead. Lewis looked to once again pull away like in set one, but Gannaway and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) wouldn't have any of it, as they kept S&T in striking distance and tied the set at 13-13. Lewis scored the next two points to regain the lead but four of the next five points went the way of S&T as a kill from Mason put the Green & Gold back in front 17-16. Lewis then went on a run of their own to again retake the lead but the Miners kept hanging around, looking to find a way to take the set. A kill from Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) made it 23-22 in the closing moments but again Lewis held on to take the set 25-22.
 
It was all Flyers early and often in the third set, scoring 11 of the first 15 points to take control of the set. Widiker managed a pair of kills in the middle stages to make it 13-7 but that would be as close the Miners would get for the remainder of the action, as Lewis went on to hit .444 in the final frame of the day to close out the afternoon with a 25-13 win.
 
Gannaway led the Miners with 12 kills on the afternoon while Widiker and Ply had six each. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) had 29 assists and eight digs while Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) led the team with a dozen digs on the afternoon.
 
Up next for the Miners, they'll head to Hammond, Indiana for the Midwest Regional Crossover. S&T's opponents will be announced later this week.