QUINCY, Ill. - With just over 24 hours between matches, the Missouri S&T men's volleyball team fought a tough battle against Quincy but dropped the match in straight sets as the Hawks posted wins by scores of 26-24, 25-18 and 25-22.
Quincy got off to a quick 3-0 start in the first set that was snapped on a
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) kill, then the Miners rallied to tie the match at six following back-to-back kills from
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) and
Josh Duett (Grain Valley, Mo./Grain Valley). With the score knotted at 12, Quincy scored three consecutive points and held at least a two-point lead until S&T, trailing 23-21, scored three straight points to give the Miners a one-point advantage. A kill by
Brayden Kuruzovich (State College, Penn./State College Area School District) gave S&T the lead, but the Hawks finished the set by scoring three consecutive points to win it.
The Hawks held the lead through the early stages of set two and with an 8-6 lead, rattled of five straight points to go up by seven. After a service error by Quincy's Jonas Holzinger halted the run, the Miners got the lead down to six at 16-10 on a
Grogan Kraus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) kill before Quincy restored its eight-point lead on back-to-back rallies. Meyer cut the deficit to six again after a kill to make it 18-12, but S&T was unable to get any closer in the middle set.
The Miners got out to an early advantage in the third set, getting a kill from
Ryan Sword (Fairfax, Va./W.T. Woodson) and two service aces from Meyer to take a 4-1 lead. S&T still led the set 8-6 following a kill by Duett, but the Hawks responded with a 4-0 run to take the lead. Following a kill by Sallade that tied things up at 12, the Hawks made another four-point run to go up for good in the set, even though the Miners were able to get within two at 21-19 after a combined block by Kraus and Sallade. Quincy got a kill from Keegan Carey who was able to end the set and win the match.
The Miners were led in kills by Meyer with 11, while Sallade contributed nine and Duett added seven. Kuruzovich recorded all 37 assists for the Miners and
Andres Hernandez (Bedford, Texas/Trinity) and Duett finished with a team-high five digs each. On the defensive side, Kraus and Sallade led with two assisted blocks apiece as Kuruzovich and Sword added an assisted block each.
As a team, S&T had 39 kills on 78 attacks while adding six blocks and 21 digs.
The Hawks (3-3) were led in kills by Raje Alleyne with 19 and Logan Gieseke added seven. Jonas Holzinger led Quincy with 36 assists and seven digs while joining AJ Goedheer and Alleyne with one service ace each.
The Miners will return to Gibson Arena next Wednesday to host Maryville at 7 p.m.
