ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri S&T volleyball team opened their fall 2021 slate Friday at Gibson Arena with a pair of games on the first day of the Miner Invitational. The Green & Gold (1-1) knocked off Purdue Northwest (0-2) in the first match of the day, winning in straight sets (26-24, 25-14, 25-9) before dropping a hard-fought decision to Upper Iowa (2-0) in the nightcap 3-2 (26-28, 25-27, 25-22, 25-23, 13-15)).
 
The early start didn't slow the Miners in the early going, as they raced out to a 6-1 lead behind a pair of kills from Sophie Straatmann (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia). The Pride weathered the early storm and strung together an 11-3 run to take a 12-9 lead. Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) broke up the run with back-to-back kills to make it 12-11 before PNW pushed their advantage back to four at 16-12. S&T then went on a run of their own, outscoring the opposition 9-1 over the next sequence to retake the lead 21-17, led by Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and Gannaway. Things would get close in the late going as the Pride rallied to force the set to extra points, but Missouri S&T held on to win the opener 26-24.
 
In set two, S&T again raced out to the early lead at 6-2 behind Burton and Gannaway before Purdue Northwest charged back into contention to make it a one-point match at 9-8. A 7-1 Miner run swung the momentum squarely back in favor of the home team. A late Pride rally wasn't enough to mount a comeback as S&T scored the final six points to take set two 25-14, capped with a Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) ace.
 
It was all Miners in the third set of the match, as they took the lead from the outset and never looked back, cruising to a 25-9 win in the set to wrap up the season opener in straight sets.
 
Burton finished with 14 kills and a block, while Gannaway logged nine kills and seven digs. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) dished out 14 assists, while Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) led the team with nine digs. Four other players recorded kills in the match while 13 different Miners recorded at least one dig. Rylee Miller (Dardenne Prairie, MO/Liberty), Brooke McCartney (Lincoln, NE/Lincoln East) and Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) all made their Missouri S&T debuts in the match as 16 different Miners logged time in the match.
 
In the nightcap opposite Upper Iowa, things would not be as pedestrian as they had been in the morning session. The Peacocks took the early led in the opening frame of the match before S&T surged ahead 7-6. The two sides would then enter into a back-and-forth exchange in the middle phases of the set, a theme that would carry throughout the balance of the contest. Neither side was able to gain a definitive edge as the match went to extra points, before Upper Iowa managed to take a 28-26 set win.
 
Set two began much the same way set one did as both sides exchanged points in the early going. Upper Iowa managed to gain some separation, but an S&T run led by Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) brought things back even at 13-13. A Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) kill and Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) ace bracketed a Peacock miscue and gave the Miners the lead at 17-16. It was a game of runs to the finish of the set, which again went to extra points and again went in favor of the visitors by a score of 27-25.
 
The first two points of set three went the way of Upper Iowa before Missouri S&T capitalized on a Burton kill and four-straight attack miscues to grab the lead 5-2. The Miners would hang onto their lead over the following points as the Peacocks managed to get within one at 10-9, but a 5-0 run led by Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) and Gannaway halted that in its tracks and swung momentum back S&T's favor, as they went on to take set three 25-22.
 
A Ply kill and Reed ace got the Green & Gold on the board first in set four before Upper Iowa took the lead and held it for several points before a 4-1 sequence in the middle stages of the match assisted the Miners and helped them briefly retake the lead. A 5-1 Peacock run gave them back the lead that they carried into the final stages of the set, but S&T stayed resilient and eight the final 10 points, led by Burton, to take the set 25-23 and force a decisive fifth set.
 
Upper Iowa was able to shake off the finish to set four and scored the first six points of the final frame before the Miners scored six of their own on the strength of two kills from Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy). S&T scored three of the next five points and pushed their advantage up to as much as three at 11-8, but seven of the match's final nine points went the way of the visitors as Upper Iowa took the set 15-13 to claim a 3-2 win in a match that spanned over two hours.
 
Gannaway finished the night with a double-double, recording 20 kills and 10 digs, while Burton and Ply added 17 and 10 respectively. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) dished out 28 assists while Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) added 23 of her own. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) led the way with 17 digs and was one of four Miners to record 10 or more in the match, joined by Netherlain and Reed who had 10 each.
 
The Miners resume play in the Miner Invitational Saturday at 10:30 AM against Arkansas Monticello (0-2). Live stats will be available for all matches, as will live streams on the GLVCSN.