CHICAGO, Ill. - The Missouri S&T opened its inaugural season with a defeat at the hands of 12th-ranked Loyola Chicago in straight sets, dropping the first set two sets 25-17 and the third set 27-25.
In the first set, the Miners (0-1) kept pace with the Ramblers and took a 9-6 advantage when
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) delivered back-to-back service aces. However, the preseason All-MIVA player, Parker Van Buren, tied the game at 9-9 after one of his five kills in the set. S&T stayed on pace with the Ramblers as the score was tied at 13, but Loyola finished the set on a 12-4 run to win the first set 25-17.
In the second set, S&T was able to get out to a quick 3-1 run after a service ace by Meyers and back-to-back kills from
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) and
Zachary Carff (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic). However, the Ramblers took the 8-7 advance on a kill from Colton Brooks. The Miners were able to cut the deficit to one after an attacking error by the Ramblers but the Ramblers closed out the set on a 13-6 run to win the second set.
In the third set, Loyola began the set on a 5-1 run that was eventually snapped on a kill by Sallade, which led to three straight points to cut the deficit to one at 5-4. The Ramblers responded with a 4-0 run where Josh Gottlieb recorded three assists in the run.
Down 13-8, Meyer responded with six straight points for the Miners which included a kill and five service aces to give S&T a 14-13 advantage. The match went back-and-forth from there and with the score tied at 23, Sallade gave the Miners the lead after a kill. However, the Ramblers responded with a kill from Jack Yentz to tie the set at 24-24, each team made a service error before the Ramblers scored the final two points to close out the match.
Miners
The Miners were led in kills by
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) with eight kills on 23 attacks while
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) added seven kills, eight service aces and made a team-high six digs and
Andres Hernandez (Bedford, Texas/Trinity) contributed four digs . S&T was led in assists by
Jordan Orr (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) with 14 while
Brayden Kuruzovich (State College, Penn./State College Area School District) added 10.
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) had two of the Miners' four blocks. As a team, the Miners had 27 kills on 80 attacking attempts.
Loyola Chicago
The Ramblers (1-0) were led in kills by Jack Yentz and Colton Brooks with five apiece where four other Ramblers finished with four kills. Matt Oakley led Loyola in digs with 7 and Brian Voight added five. Dan Mangun led the Ramblers with 17 assists while Voight added 11 assists.
Head Coach Andy Halaz on this decision: "I'm proud of our guys for going toe-to-toe with a top 15 program. They are already turning heads in the volleyball community. It was a great first step for our program".
The Miners will resume action at Lewis Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Romeoville, Ill.
