EAST PEORIA, ILL.- Playing in their first GLVC Championship in program history, the 5^th seeded Miners (14-7, 12-6 GLVC) took on the 3^rd seeded Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana (17-4, 12-6). S&T took the opening set from USI before dropping sets two and three. The Miners would rally in the fourth set to force a fifth but ultimately fall 15-9 in the final set and face the 3-2 match loss.

This match marked the first time a 5-seed competed for the GLVC Championship.

S&T opened the match hot with 16 kills in the opening frame.

After opening the set on an 8-3 run, that was capped off with a double block from Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State), the Miners would push their lead out to as much as 12-6 after back-to-back kills from Gannaway and Shelby Ply (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) and another double block on the left side from Reed and Ply.

USI would come storming back into the game after S&T errors and kills from Abby Weber and Leah Anderson tied the set at 14-14.

While the Screaming Eagles hung with the Miners, it would be S&T that claimed set one. Looking at a 24-24 score, the duo of Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) and Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) led Missouri S&T to the 26-24 set one win with another double block.

The Miners would find themselves playing from behind in the second set; after USI stretched their lead out to 18-13, S&T would rally for a 6-1 run that tied the set at 19-19. The Screaming Eagles recorded five of the last six points in the set to take the 25-21 set two win and tie the match at 1-1.

USI would take a 2-1 match lead after taking the third set 25-19, but the Miners were not going away so easily.

While S&T took the early lead in the fourth set, Southern Indiana strung together a 9-1 run to take a 12-10 lead. The Miners hung with the Screaming Eagles for most of the set but would get the push they needed to force a fifth set.

With a 23-22 lead, Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) put down consecutive kills to give S&T the 25-22 set four win.

The Miners did all they could in the final frame of the match. While both teams put down seven kills each, it would be errors that threatened S&T's comeback. USI scored five of the final six points of the match and took the 15-9 set five win and the 3-2 match win.

Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State), who set a new career high in kills last night, followed up that performance with a double-double of 23 kills and 13 digs while Jordan Burton (Olathe, Kansas/Olathe South Senior High) tied her career high with 20 kills. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) dished out a match high 49 assists while also recording a double-double with 18 digs.

On the defensive side, Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, Kansas/Blue Valley Northwest) led all players with 23 digs while Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy) got her hands on seven blocks today. Gannaway, Shelby Ply (Rolla, Mo./Rolla), and Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, Mo./Ste. Genevieve) all also got their hands on blocks today with six, five, and four, respectively.