HAMMOND, Ind. – After splitting the first two sets, Missouri S&T's volleyball team dominated the next two Friday afternoon as it defeated Cedarville 3-1 in its first game at the Midwest Regional Crossover.
The Miners lost the opening set 25-23 and won set two by an identical score, then posted wins of 25-15 and 25-14 in the last two to win its only match of the day at the Hammond SportsPlex.
The first set saw S&T (10-7) lead by as many as four points in the early going, but the Yellowjackets (9-9) used a 6-1 burst to take a 12-11 lead. After the Miners got the next point on a Cedarville service error, the Yellowjackets ran off six of the seven points that followed to go up 18-13.
S&T tried to claw back into the set, getting to within one at 20-19 following a service ace by
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) and again at 24-23 after a
Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) ace, but Cedarville got a block on the next point to wrap it up.
After Cedarville had the early advantage in set two, the Miners stormed back and had a 5-1 run to take the lead, moving in front on a kill by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla). The Yellowjackets regained the lead at 12-11 and built it to four before the Miners staged a rally of their own to eventually win the set.
Down 20-16, S&T scored five points in succession with two kills by
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and one by
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central), a service ace by
Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) and a block by Ply and
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) to move in front. The Miners never trailed again in the set, getting an ace from Ply to go up 24-22 and then winning it when Cedarville committed a service error on set point.
The Miners dominated the third set and early portion of set four, running off 10 straight points in early stages of the third to take an early 13-3 lead and leading by as many as 12 points as they posted an impressive .625 attack percentage in the set. In the fourth set, the Miners scored eight of the first nine points before Cedarville rallied to cut the lead to 14-11 and bring about an S&T timeout.
S&T regrouped after the timeout, scoring the first six points out of the break that included two service aces by Alessio and taking a nine-point advantage in the process. The Miners would outscore the Yellowjackets 11-3 after Cedarville got to within three.
Balance was the key for the Miners – who hit .342 in the match – as four players combined for 47 of the team's 52 kills. Ply led the way with 15 and also added five blocks and four service aces, while
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) finished with 13 kills,
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) with 10 and Carrillo with nine. S&T also finished the match with eight blocks and 13 service aces, as Alessio also had four aces.
Missouri S&T will play twice in the event on Saturday, taking on Ohio Dominican at 11:30 a.m. and Northern Michigan at 4:30 p.m.
