LEBANON, Ill. – Missouri S&T's women's volleyball team used big runs in each of the final two sets to dispatch McKendree Saturday afternoon, picking up a straight-set win over the Bearcats in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
The opening set was tight for the most part, as S&T (12-9, 3-5 GLVC) built a 14-10 lead only to see McKendree (10-11, 0-7 GLVC) rattle off a 6-1 run to take a 16-15 lead. The Miners later trailed 18-17, but ran off four straight points – on kills by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb),
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and a service ace by
Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) to take the lead for good. A
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) kill finally allowed the Miners to take the set 25-23.
Set two, however, saw McKendree race out to leads of 7-1 and 9-3 before the Miners stormed back with six consecutive points to even the set. After the Bearcats scored to stop the run, S&T took the lead in the set a short time later at 12-11 on a kill by Mason. The Miners would build their lead to as many as five at 20-15 as they outscored McKendree 17-6 after the Bearcats' opening run and would eventually win the set 25-22.
The Miners used another big run early in the third set to grab control, outscoring the Bearcats 7-2 after McKendree had cut the lead to 8-6 to take a seven-point lead and bring about a Bearcat timeout. The run was triggered by a pair of combined blocks, first from
Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) and Mason and the second from Ply and Burton.
S&T's lead would eventually grow to as many as 11 points in the final set and the Miners finished off the 25-15 victory, fittingly, with a kill by Burton as she led the Miners with 15 kills on the day.
Carrillo added 11 kills for the Miners, who hit .246 in the contest and posted a .353 attack percentage in the third set. S&T also had six blocks in the match – Ply, Mason and Offerman were each in on three – while Alessio had 20 digs and
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) and
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) combined for 40 assists.
Missouri S&T will host its final two home games of the 2023 season next weekend, beginning with Friday's 6 p.m. match against Indianapolis at Gibson Arena.
