ROLLA, Mo. – It was a rematch of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Spring 2021 championship game Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena as Missouri S&T played host to Southern Indiana. The Miners (7-2, 1-0) started off the match by winning the first two sets before the Screaming Eagles (7-3, 1-1) bounced back to take the next two sets before S&T rallied in the late going to win the match 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 20-25, 15-9).
 
USI was first on the scoreboard following an S&T attack before S&T took their first lead of the day just points later on a Screaming Eagle error. The two sides traded blows through the early stages of the set before Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) gave the home team a little breathing room with a kill to make it 9-7. S&T continued to hold their lead until USI rallied to take the lead 14-12. That lead would be short-lived, as a Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) kill tied things at 15-15 before Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) put one away to retake the lead. The Miners kept a step ahead of the opposition until USI again rallied to force extra points, but the Green & Gold withstood the surge and claimed the opening frame 26-24 on a kill from Burton.
 
Misosuri S&T scored first on a Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) kill in the second set before USI went ahead and managed to stay ahead through much of the action, despite the Miners tying things five times and briefly leading at 9-8 following a kill from Gannaway. Trailing 23-21 late, the Miners capitalized on back-to-back attack errors by the Screaming Eagles before O'Boyle and Burton ended things to take the set 25-23.
 
Southern Indiana did not go quietly in set three, showing why they were the defending conference champions. They scored first and aside from a pair of ties at 9-9 and 12-12, never trailed in the set. An S&T surge in the middle of the set looked to try and swing the momentum back in favor of the home team, but USI controlled things from start to finish in set three, winning 25-19.
 
The Screaming Eagles continued their momentum from set three into the start of set four, opening things with an 8-2 run to put themselves in control. The Miners battled back to within two at 15-13 following a Gannaway kill but got no closer as USI took the set 25-20 to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Things continued to come up USI as the fifth stanza commenced, as the Screaming Eagles raced out to a 4-1 lead. Undeterred and determined to defend their home court, S&T stormed back with authority. Led by Burton, the Miners took the lead 8-7 and kept their foot on the gas, with Gannaway wrapping things up with a kill to claim the set 15-9 and the match in a thrilling way to open GLVC action.
 
Burton finished with 19 kills to lead the team while Gannaway added 11 of her own along with 16 digs to record another double-double. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) led the team with 18 digs, followed closely by Reed with 17. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) handed out 36 assists, and Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) added 13 more during the course of the action. O'Boyle logged eight total blocks while Ply and Gannaway added six and five respectively. As a team, the Miners recorded a season-high 15 total blocks, including four solo blocks.
 
Up next for the Miners, they hit the road for a Friday evening match in Kirksville against Truman State, with first serve scheduled for 7 P.M.