ROLLA, MO- After going over a year without playing a game, the Miners welcomed the Cardinals of William Jewell for their first match in Gibson Arena for the season. While S&T struggled to break away from Jewell, they would hold out in the long run and take the 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-23, 15-13) win.

While S&T saw a quick 6-3 lead in the first set after Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) laid a kill down, WJC would rally back to tie the game after back-to-back errors on the Miners.

S&T would get their lead right back after a 4-0 run that was capped with a kill from Jordan Burton (Olathe, Kansas/Olathe South Senior High) and a service ace for Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) for the 10-6 lead. Jewell's offense would ignite from that point; after getting up 16-14, the Cardinals would go on an 8-2 run to take the 24-16 lead. S&T was able to fight off two set points, but an error from the Miners would give Jewell the 25-18 set one win.

The Miners came back stronger in the second set; they laid down 13 kills and saw the Cardinals commit seven errors in route to the 25-19 set two win.

Both teams traded points with one another to start the second set, but the Miners were able to pull away with a five-point run that saw kills from Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) and Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) to take a 9-4 lead. S&T would push their lead out even further after back-to-back blocks from Jordan Burton (Olathe, Kansas/Olathe South Senior High), Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy), and Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) to take a 15-6 lead.

Jewell would not be able to catch the Miners; Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) ended the set with a big kill to tie the match at 1-1.

S&T struggled to get into a rhythm in the third set. After Jewell went on a 9-0 run, the Miners got a much-needed kill from Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) to make it a 17-12 score in favor of the Cardinals. The teams traded points through the rest of the set with WJC taking the 25-17 set three win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Miners played their best set in the fourth with 10 kills while hitting .269. After going point for point with one another, S&T was able to pull ahead with a kill from Shelby Ply (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) and errors from the Cardinals for the 24-22 lead. After a Miner service error made it 24-23, Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) laid down a kill to give S&T the 25-23 set win and tie the match at 2-2.

William Jewell had a 12-10 lead late in the fifth set but four consecutive errors from the Cardinals would put the Miners up 14-12. Jordan Collard put down a kill for WJC to get within one of the Miners, but Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) ended the match with a kill up the middle for the 15-13 set win and the 3-2 match win.

Avery Redd and Jordan Burton (Olathe, Kansas/Olathe South Senior High) led the way for the Miners tonight with 13 and 11 kills, respectively while Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) added in nine. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, Kansas/Blue Valley Northwest) had a game high 16 digs while Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) dished out a team best 22 assists.

As a team, Missouri S&T (1-1, 1-1 GLVC) finished the match hitting .121 with 47 kills. They picked up 53 digs and handed out 45 total assists.