After a 30-year absence, Missouri S&T revived its volleyball program in the fall of 2007 as the second edition of volleyball at the university.  After playing its first nine games away from home that season, the Miners finally got to play in front of a home audience for the first time on Sept. 7, 2007 and in front of a large crowd, made the most of that opportunity.

On July 1, 2006, Jason Holt began his tenure as head coach of the Missouri S&T volleyball program.  This was the second version of the program; the first one started in 1974 with many of the same individuals that made up the basketball team that would open play later that calendar year.  However, that program was discontinued following four years of play and did not come back into the fold until after Missouri S&T joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

S&T's volleyball team would begin play in its third GLVC season, so Holt's task during the first year after taking the reins was to start assembling the first team that would converge for the first practice 13 months later.  While recruiting around the country for members of that first team, he also looked to the campus for some student-athletes to get the process started.

That effort netted the first four members of the squad – redshirt freshman Tory Smiley, sophomores Lynsey Jorgenson and Lisa Robinson and junior Stephanie Harmon.  The remainder of the 2007 team that arrived in August 2007 were all true freshmen, 13 in all, to make up the 17-player roster that would be the first Miner volleyball squad of the new era.

As is frequently the case with many new teams, there were some early struggles.  The Miners opened their 2007 campaign at a two-day event at Christian Brothers University in Memphis and dropped all four matches, winning just three sets in the four matches.  The following weekend, the Miners were unable to pick up a victory in an event at Colorado School of Mines, then lost a non-conference match to 12^th-ranked Washburn on the Tuesday preceding the home opener.

So as the Friday night contest with Drury – which would also serve as the first conference contest for the Miners – approached, Holt was hopeful for a good crowd for that match.

"We – meaning (assistant coach) Heather Roberts and of course, or all-new team – promoted that game so much," Holt recalled.  "We had no idea if anyone would come with us being new.  At the same time, I remember being so nervous, yet so excited, to finally play at home after our first two weekends on the road and the midweek game at Washburn."

It was also an opportunity, in Holt's mind, to show everyone the young and talented roster he had put together.  Even though the Miners had yet to post a victory, it was a team that figured to get better over time as it gained more experience.

As the Miners came onto the floor on Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, they were quite surprised at what they saw.

"When we started seeing the stands begin to fill up and continue to fill, we were shocked and so excited to have such a great crowd," Holt said.  "I remember telling them, 'This is OUR court!  Let's show everyone what WE can do!".

When the match began that evening in front of a crowd of 1,200 spectators that practically filled the lower seating level of the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building, Drury picked up the first two points of the match before a service error gave S&T its first point of the match, then the Miners got their first point on their own behalf moments later from two of those 13 freshmen when setter Ashlyn Balensiefer assisted right side hitter Maddie Owak for a kill.  S&T took its first lead in set one at 5-4 and the set remained relatively close until Drury ran off a 9-2 stretch to build a seven-point advantage.

The Miners were able to close the gap to two at 23-21, but the Panthers scored seven of the final 10 points of the set (sets in 2007 ran to 30 points; it was dropped down to 25 beginning the following season) to take the opening set 30-24.

The Panthers also jumped out to an early lead in set two, only to see the Miners rebound to draw even at nine. This time, it was S&T that made a run to take the lead as it used a quick burst to take a 16-12 advantage and force Drury to use the first of its two timeouts.  Drury came out of the timeout and scored 10 of the next 14 points to take a 22-20 lead, but S&T had an answer of its own.

Beginning with a kill by Lauren Summerville that cut the lead in half, the Miners rattled off six straight points on Balensiefer's serve to take a 26-22 lead.  After the Panthers scored to halt that run of points, the Miners got another kill from Summerville and finished off the set with two kills from another freshman, Leandra Pelae, to capture the set 30-25 and even the match at one apiece heading into the intermission.

S&T grabbed an early 6-3 lead out of break in set three and led for nearly all of it.  Drury had brief leads of 8-7 and 10-9, but after it took the advantage for the second time, the Miners scored four straight points on Bridget Williams' serve to take the lead for good and added another 7-3 surge later in the set as it forced Drury into several mistakes during that set to eventually win 30-24 and put themselves within a set of their first match victory.

The Panthers would not go away easily, jumping out to an early lead in set four and maintaining it through much of the set, leading by as many as seven points and was up 25-19 in the latter stages.

It was that group of young players, bolstered by the large and loud crowd in the Multi-Purpose Building, that brought the Miners back in the fourth set.

Summerville recorded back-to-back kills, the first two of five she would have down the stretch to trim the lead to four, then after Drury got a point back, Summerville got another kill to spark a 5-0 run to tie the set at 26.  S&T had two big blocks in that run, one a combined block by Owak and Katie Herington and a solo block by Herington that produced the tying point.

The teams would go back-and-forth for the next several points as neither team could secure the two-point advantage as the score reached 30.  But after Pelae recorded a kill to even it at 30, she delivered a service ace that preceded the last of Summerville's five kills in the stretch run, as her spike caromed off a Drury player and sailed all the way to the back wall to give the Miners the set and their first match victory.

"This match was our opportunity to show that even though we were practically all freshmen, we did in fact have a lot of talent on this young team," Holt said.  "Drury fought hard, but I also think we completely shocked them.  I think they thought this brand new team couldn't beat them.  But we thrived off the crowd and got huge games from Leandra and Lauren, amazing setting from Ashlyn and huge blocks from Katie and Maddie."

Pelae finished with 20 kills in the match and Summerville recorded 15, while Herington was in on five blocks and Owak on three as S&T had eight blocks on the night.  Balensiefer had assists of 47 of the Miners' 54 kills recorded in the contest and also had three of the team's eight service aces.

"Beating our eventual main rival in our very first GLVC match and our first home game in front of 1,200-plus fans was just incredible," Holt said.  "Even to this day, it was one of the best coaching moments I have ever had."

The Miners would win just two more matches in that inaugural season, beating Kentucky Wesleyan in five sets for their second GLVC win and taking a non-conference match over Missouri Valley in straight sets.  But as the talent level increased in each of the seasons to follow, the Miners would increase their win total in each of the next four seasons and finished a campaign over the .500 mark for the first time in 2010 with seven of the original freshmen and Smiley on that roster.

One of those freshmen, Kit Spears, did not play in the 2007 season while recovering from an injury, but as a fifth-year senior helped lead the Miners in 2011 to their first GLVC West Division championship and first berth to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional.

S&T would win another GLVC West championship in 2012 and make another regional appearance in 2014, then has had a resurgence under current head coach Andy Halaz – who ironically, will also have the task of building a team from scratch himself when S&T starts its men's volleyball program that begins play in 2023 – winning 21 games in 2019 and following that with a GLVC West title, first national ranking and championship game appearance in the conference tournament in the 2021 spring season.

All of that, however, started with a foundation of players whose first taste of success at the collegiate level came on the home floor on the night of Sept. 7, 2007.