ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – In a matchup of teams vying for a spot among the top four in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Missouri S&T's volleyball team came up short in its head-to-head showdown with Lewis Saturday afternoon as the Flyers downed the Miners in four sets.
The teams split the first two sets with Lewis winning 26-24 and S&T winning set two 25-12, but the Flyers held off late S&T rallies in the final two sets to win 26-24 and 25-22. The loss dropped the Miners to 15-8 overall and 7-4 in the GLVC.
Set one was tight throughout, as neither team held a lead of more than three points at any juncture. The score was tied on 13 occasions and changed hands five times and S&T had a set point at 24-23 after a kill by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb). However, the Flyers (19-7, 8-3 GLVC) scored the final three points to take the set.
The Miners dominated set two, hitting .467 in the set and having just one attack error in 30 attempts. S&T scored eight of the first nine points of the set , which included two kills by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and a service ace from
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) to take control from the outset. The closest the Flyers would get in the set was when they cut the lead to six at 10-4, but a 6-1 S&T run followed to put the lead into double figures for the most of the balance of the set.
S&T also got off to a good start in the third set as it led 7-3 after a kill by Mason, but the Flyers climbed back in it by scoring seven of the next nine points to regain the advantage. Lewis would eventually get to set point at 24-20, but kills by
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and
Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial), followed by a setting error by the Flyers and a combined block by Merjil and Madison Offerman allowed the Miners to tie the set at 24.
The Flyers, though, got a block of their own after a timeout to regain the lead and won the set a moment later after a service ace by Andrea Zeiser.
The final set saw Lewis hold the lead for much of it, as it moved in front for good at 8-7. The Flyers built as much as a six-point lead in the set to bring the contest to match point, but the Miners scored four straight points to keep the match alive that included kills by Burton and Ply. Lewis ended up getting a kill from Bella Ray, who shared the match-high with 15 kills, to close out the game.
Burton had 15 kills to lead the Miners, while Ply finished with 13 and Mason with 12. S&T hit .227 for the match to Lewis' .220, but the Flyers had 10 blocks to the Miners' three.
Merjil finished the contest with 41 assists and two service aces, while Netherlain had 19 digs to pace S&T in that department.
The Miners will close out their home schedule next Saturday by hosting Illinois Springfield at 3 p.m. at Gibson Arena.
