ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team was back on the court at the Mark Twain building on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis for day two for the Triton Invitational. The Miners lined up twice Friday, first against Southern Arkansas in the second match of the day before closing out against Saint Leo in the night sessions. S&T (3-0) handled the Muleriders (0-1) in straight sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-13 before again sweeping the Lions (1-1) in the nightcap 25-15, 25-21, 25-20.
Against the Muleriders, the Miners surrendered the first point of the afternoon but took the lead for good just a few points later in the set. Back-to-back kills by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and an ace from
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) made it 8-3 in favor of S&T, as SAU stumbled out of the blocks offensively, committing 10 errors during the opening frame and hitting just .067. The Miners maintained their lead as the set progressed, with Southern Arkansas never being able to close to within more than three at 20-17. Another Offerman killed along with one from
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and three more attack errors secured a 25-17 win to begin the match.
S&T struck first in set two by way of an error and an
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) ace, but SAU seemed to awake from their sleepwalking in set one to make the Miners work for it. The teams traded the lead twice early before Burton landed a kill to make it 9-8 and regain the advantage. The errors were more evenly distributed in the second set of the day, as both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense. A 3-0 run from S&T was answered by five of the next six going the way of the Muleriders to tie things up at 16. The set remained close for the balance, but the Green & Gold pulled away late courtesy of Burton,
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and three more errors to win 25-20 to go ahead 2-0.
It was all Miners in the third frame of the afternoon, going on an 8-2 run to resume play and never looking back. The Muleriders never managed to muster much of a rally as they had in set two, and were again done in by mistakes, committing seven more as S&T took advantage and let by as much as 12 in the late going before closing out the set 25-13 to start the season with back-to-back straight sets for just the second time in program history.
Ply finished with 14 kills and hit .524 for the match, while Burton had eight kills and was in on four blocks with Mason adding seven kills and two blocks. Netherlain led the way with 13 digs while Arand and
Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) combined for 30 assists with 18 and 12 respectively. For the match, S&T logged two solo blocks and 18 blocks assists, with Offerman leading the way with seven assisted rejections along with a solo.
In the day's second match, Saint Leo got ton the board first, but S&T responded in a massive way, rattling off the next eight points in succession, led by three aces by
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan). The Lions never managed a sustained rally for the rest of the set as the Miners took advantage of some miscues and saw the lead swell to double-figures late before
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) carded the Green & Gold's last three kills of the stanza to open the night with a 25-15 win.
Set two was a different story and quickly turned into a pitched battle for momentum. The two teams swapped the lead on several occasions in the early offing before the Miners went back ahead 14-12 by way of two Saint Leo errors along with an
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) kill and
Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) ace. Again, the Lions rallied to tie things up and again S&T answered with four more pints to go back ahead starting with a
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) kill and saw the score move to 18-14. A 5-1 Lion run evened things at 20 before the Miners closed on a 5-1 run of their own to win 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead.
The final frame of the night started with a flurry as S&T charged out to a 5-1 lead early before Saint Leo marched right back to tie things on several of the ensuing points before taking a 12-10 lead. A trio of errors and two kills quickly swung the score back in favor of the Miners at 15-12 for the final lead change of the evening. The Lions were able to close to within one at 18-17, but couldn't find a way to rally as the Miners closed out the straight set victory 25-20.
Burton closed out the night with 11 kills, while Widiker, Mason and Ply each finished with nine and combined for eight block assists, with Offerman adding four more to add to her big day up front.
Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) led the way with 18 domes while
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) added 15 more, with Netherlain finishing with 13 digs.
Friday night's win was a record setting one, as the Miners have now opened the season with three consecutive straight set wins for the first time in program history.
Missouri S&T closes out the weekend with one match Saturday at 2 PM against Emporia State.
