HILLSDALE, Mich. – After posting wins in its first six matches of the season, Missouri S&T's women's volleyball team dropped its second contest in succession to close out its weekend in Michigan as it lost in straight sets to Ferris State Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs edged the Miners 25-23 in the first set, then posted back-to-back 25-17 wins in the last two sets of a match where they hit .324 against the Miners, including a marks of .333 and .367 in those final two segments.
The Miners held the lead for a good portion of the opening set, building as much as a five-point lead at 14-9. S&T led the set 22-19 following a kill by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), but the Bulldogs ran off five straight points to take the lead before a kill by
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) drew S&T to within one. However, the Bulldogs got a kill on the next point to take the set.
S&T never led in set two as following a kill by Widiker that made the score 9-7, Ferris State scored the next five points to take a seven-point advantage before a
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) kill halted that string of points. However, the Bulldogs were able to sustain a lead that never got under six points as they posted a .333 attack percentage in the set.
In the third, the Miners fell behind early in the set as Ferris State used a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. The Bulldogs pulled away in the latter stages of the set, scoring 10 of 15 points during a stretch that allowed them to close out the contest.
Widiker led the Miners with nine kills, while Ply finished with eight and recorded a .429 hitting percentage in the match.
Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) recorded a team-high 15 digs and
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) finished with 17 assists.
The Miners hit .324 in the opening set, but had marks of .185 and .242 in the sets that followed.
At the conclusion of the meet Saturday evening, Mason was selected to the all-tournament team after averaging nearly 10 kills per match and posting a hitting percentage of .269 in the four contests.
Missouri S&T will begin Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Friday when it plays at Illinois Springfield in a 6 p.m. match.
