ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A balanced offensive attack and strong defensive play allowed Missouri S&T to capture its fourth straight match to open the 2022 season Saturday afternoon, as the Miners downed Emporia State in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-18 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The straight set win was the fourth straight of that variety for the Miners to open the season, marking the second time in program history that S&T has won four consecutive contests without losing a set and the first doing so to begin a season. S&T had a run of four straight 3-0 wins during the month of September in 2014.
It is also the third 4-0 start in program history, as the Miners also opened the 2015 and 2019 campaigns with four consecutive wins.
The Miners got off to a fast start in the opening set, rattling off 14 of the first 16 points of the match that included a run of seven straight points in one stretch. The Hornets cut the margin down to six later in the set, but S&T finished off the set by scoring four of the final five points.
S&T recorded a .216 hitting percentage in the first set and held ESU to a -.027 mark with eight errors against seven kills.
In the second set, the Miners used an early 4-0 burst to take a lead it would not relinquish and used an 8-3 surge midway through the set to build an eight-point lead. Leading 13-10, S&T would outscore the Hornets 12-7 to close the set as
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) started the decisive run with a pair of kills among the five she recorded in the set.
The Miners had a .351 hitting percentage in set two and held ESU to a .132 mark.
However, Emporia State jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead to prompt an S&T timeout early in the third set. The Miners regrouped after the timeout, as after the Hornets extended their lead to six, S&T ran off four straight points to halt the early run and then strung together seven straight moments later, taking its first lead of the set at 12-11 on
Lexi Netherlain's (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) service ace.
From there, the Miners were able to hold off the Hornets before finishing the match on a 6-2 spurt to close out the victory.
S&T hit .260 for the match and its balance showed as
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) – who led S&T with 13 kills – Burton and
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) combined for 29 of the team's 42 kills.
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) led the Miners with 21 assists and 17 digs in the contest, while
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) had a solo blocks and four assisted blocks and
Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) had five assisted blocks.
The Miners held Emporia State (1-3) to an .052 hitting percentage for the match and forced 22 attack errors.
Missouri S&T will return to action on Thursday when it faces Gannon in the first of four contests at the Hillsdale Net Results Invitational in Hillsdale, Mich. Thursday's match will begin at 4 p.m., Eastern time. S&T will also take on Colorado School of Mines, Hillsdale and Ferris State in next weekend's event.
