HILLSDALE, Mich. – Missouri S&T's volleyball team reached a program milestone in its first match Friday at the Hillsdale Net Results Invitational with a win over 14
th-ranked Colorado School of Mines, but suffered its first loss of the season in the match that followed against the host school as it finished the day with a split of its two contests against nationally-ranked squads.
The Miners' 3-1 win over Colorado School of Mines – winning by scores of 25-21, 16-25, 25-13 and 25-21 – allowed them to open a season with six consecutive wins for the first time ever. However, 22
nd-ranked Hillsdale halted the winning streak with a four-set win, taking the match 25-15, 17-25, 25-22 and 25-14.
Miners 3, Colorado School of Mines 1
S&T trailed for much of the early stages of the opening set, but took the lead with an 8-2 burst that gave it a 14-11 lead. The Orediggers (3-2) used a 6-0 run to regain the advantage, but the Miners made a late charge and took the lead back for good at 21-20 on
Brooke McCartney's (Lincoln, NE/Lincoln East) service ace. S&T scored 10 of the final 11 points of the match after falling behind 20-15.
The Orediggers led from start to finish in set two to knot the match, ending S&T's school record run of consecutive sets won at 16, but the Miners regained their hitting form in the final two sets to take the match. S&T hit .238 in set three, then posted a .320 mark in the final set.
The third set saw S&T also hold Mines to a -.033 attack percentage as it pulled away during the second half of the set. S&T led 12-9 but sparked by a kill by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb), the Miners ran off five straight points to take an eight-point lead and like in the opening set, closed strong as they scored six of the final seven points in the set.
S&T never trailed in set four after jumping out to a 6-1 lead to open things, but after the Orediggers tied the score at eight, the Miners took the lead back and held off a late rally effort by Mines. The Orediggers had the lead down to two at 23-21, but a pair of kills by
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) closed out the win for S&T.
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) had 10 kills to lead S&T and had only one attack error in 15 attempts, while Mason recorded eight kills and Burton seven. The Miners also recorded 11 blocks in the match; Ply had a hand in six and
Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) had a solo block to go with four assisted blocks.
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) and
Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) combined for 31 assists for S&T.
Hillsdale 3, Miners 1
Hillsdale led for the entirety of the opening set, but the Miners answered back with a solid showing in set two, hitting .220 in the set as they overcame a seven-point deficit.
The Chargers (5-1) held a 14-7 lead before the Miners ran off six straight points to draw to within one;
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) recorded three of the kills during that run. After Hillsdale got a point, the Miners scored the next two points and tied it on a kill by Burton, then took the lead at 17-16 on an Offerman kill.
S&T scored 10 of the final 11 points in the second set and got back-to-back kills from Burton – who had six kills in the set – to finish it off.
The third set was a battle from start to finish as the teams were tied 12 times during the course of the set. The teams were tied at 16 after Mason recorded a kill, but the Chargers were able to build a four-point lead by scoring four of the next five points. The Miners rallied back and evened things at 22 after a kill by Burton, but Hillsdale scored the next three points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The final set was all Chargers, as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead and held at least a three-point lead for the duration of the set. Hillsdale hit a blistering .463 in the third set to exceed the Miners' .297 mark – its best in any of the four sets of the match.
S&T had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Mason and Burton with 14 apiece. Widiker finished the match with 13 kills and Ply recorded 11.
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) led five players that had double figures in digs with 18, while Arand and Merjil combined for 38 assists.
Hillsdale was strong at the net, however, as it finished the match with 13 blocks.
Missouri S&T wraps up play in the three-day event on Saturday when it takes on Ferris State in a 1 p.m. match.
