ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's volleyball team picked up a critical Great Lakes Valley Conference victory Friday night as it posted a straight-set victory over Indianapolis at Gibson Arena, winning by scores of 25-23, 25-13 and 25-23.
The Miners upped their overall record to 13-9 and conference record to 4-5 with Friday's win, which had plenty of ebbs and flows in the bookend sets.
S&T fell behind 5-1 out of the gate in set one and remained in arrears until evening things up at 11 on a kill by
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty). It was the first of six ties in the set, as the Miners did not take their first lead until late in the set at 23-22 on
Meiko Pearson's (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) service ace. UIndy (15-8, 4-4 GLVC) tied the set at 23 on Sophia Parlanti's kill, but the Miners won the set following a pair of mistakes by the Greyhounds, first a service error and then a setting error to end the set.
The Miners dominated set two as they held UIndy to a .075 attack percentage while hitting .256 themselves. S&T never trailed in the second set – it was tied at three before the Miners took the lead on a Carrillo kill. Leading 12-8, the Miners outscored the Greyhounds 9-2 to build a 21-10 lead and never looked back in going up two sets.
UIndy grabbed the early advantage in the third set before the Miners rattled off five straight points to go up 14-10. A kill by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) started the run, which was followed by kills from
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion), Carrillo and a pair by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla). However, the Greyhounds hung in the set and drew even at 19 and later took a 23-22 lead. However, S&T responded by getting another kill by Carrillo – her team-high 15
th of the match and sixth of the set – then a ball-handling error from the Greyhounds and a service ace by Carrillo to end the match.
S&T, who hit .378 in the final set and .277 for the match, also got 12 kills from
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and nine from Mason in the victory. Ply was in on three of S&T's five blocks in the match, while
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) finished with 20 assists and
Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) had a team-leading 16 digs.
Missouri S&T wraps up its home schedule Saturday as it hosts 13
th-ranked Lewis in a 3 p.m. contest at Gibson Arena. The Miner seniors will be honored following Saturday's contest.
