INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Missouri S&T volleyball team wrapped up their weekend at the UIndy Invitational Saturday with a pair of matches against the host University of Indianapolis and the 14th-ranked team in the latest AVCA Rankings Winona State. The Miners (6-2) went the distance in the morning with the Greyhounds (3-4) and picked up a 3-2 win (28-26, 14-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-10) before seeing their winning streak snapped by the Warriors (7-0) in a straight-set (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) loss in the afternoon at the Ruth Lilly Center.
 
The Greyhounds found the scoring column first in the day's opening action, racing out to a 5-1 lead before the Miners came back to tie things with a pair of kills from Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) and a pair of UIndy miscues. The teams would trade the next few points before S&T pulled in front by way of a Greyhound attack error and two kills from Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) to make it 10-8. The Miners continued to lead until a late surge by the home team saw them come from down four to leading by two with set point on the line. A Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) kill and another UIndy error tied the score at 24 and sent the set to extra points, where the Miners prevailed, scoring four of the last five points and taking a 28-26 set win on a service ace by O'Boyle.
 
Set two started much the same way set one ended, with neither team able to gain an edge through the first 10 points until the Greyhounds notched two kills to go ahead 7-5. UIndy was able to maintain their lead throughout the remaining balance of the set as they went on the even the match with a 25-14 win.
 
S&T struck first and led in the early going to begin play in set three, with Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) and Gannaway leading the charge before the Greyhounds slowly worked their way back into the set and used a 6-1 series to take the lead before opening things up with an 11-0 run to take the third stanza 25-13 and lead the match 2-1.
 
With their backs against the wall, S&T again scored first in set four before falling behind and this time hanging with the Greyhounds as play progressed. The middle stages of the set were tightly contested as again the points went back-and-forth before the Miners took the lead in the late going with kills from Burton, Gannaway and O'Boyle along with an ace from Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) to lead 23-19. A late rally by UIndy was staved off as two kills from the fifth-year senior Gannaway clinched the set 25-23 to even the match at 2-2.
 
Playing their second-straight five set match, the Miners found themselves down early but kept their composure, going on a 7-2 run to lead 9-5. Burton just about wrapped things up for S&T single-handedly in the final set of the match, registering four the Miners' final five points of the match to take the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
 
Gannaway posted another 20-kill match and finished one dig shy of a double-double with nine while also adding a trio of service aces. Burton finished the match with 14 kills, three blocks, three assists and three digs while O'Boyle finished with 10 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Merjil dished out 31 assists while posting nine digs and three kills, and Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) added 14 assists of her own. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) again led the team with 18 digs. As a team, S&T hit over .300 in two sets, posting a .302 mark in set one and a .327 mark in set four.
 
Wrapping up the weekend against the #14 team in the land Winona State, the Miners trailed early in set one following a hot start by the Warriors who led 8-2 after 10 points. S&T did not stay down long though, chipping away at the deficit to tie things at 11-11 on a Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) kill before taking the lead on a pair of WSU errors at 14-13. Unfortunately for S&T, that would be their last lead of the set as Winona State went on the take the opener 25-17.
 
Set two began as a closely played affair with the Warriors scoring first before the Miners took the lead on a pair of errors. Winona briefly retook the lead over the following points before the Green & Gold again cashed in on some Warrior mistakes and a kill from Ply to lead again at 7-6. The lead continued to hold thanks to a pair of kills from Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and more WSU mistakes to make it 12-9. But as like set one, the lead would not hold as Winona State came from behind to go onto a 25-16 win.
 
S&T got on the board first in set three, capitalizing on more errors from Winona State and getting a pair of kills from Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) to lead 5-4. The Warriors kept within striking distance however, tying the score twice before taking the lead briefly at 9-8. Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) tied things back up the following point and a pair of errors coupled with a Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) kill put the Miners up three at 12-9. A 7-0 Warriors run ended up being the difference in the set as the momentum swung in their favor, as they closed out the match with a 25-18 win.
 
Burton finished the match with a team-high eight kills while Gannaway added seven kills and four digs. Ply finished with six kills while O'Boyle and Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) had four and three respectively. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) led the way with 14 assists while Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) chipped in 10. Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) and Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) each recorded six digs during the match for S&T.
 
Up next, the Miners return to Gibson Arena to begin Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday September 18 against Southern Indiana, with first serve set for 3 PM.