ROLLA, Mo. – After letting the first set slip through its grasp Saturday afternoon, Missouri S&T's women's volleyball roared back to win the second set and carried that momentum into a four-set win over 13
th-ranked Lewis at Gibson Arena.
The Miners lost the first set 25-22, but posted a .500 attack percentage to win the second set 25-14 and edged the visiting Flyers 25-23 and 26-24 in the final two sets to improve to 14-9 overall and even their Great Lakes Valley Conference record at 5-5 in their final home match of the 2023 season.
S&T got off to a fast start in the opening set, scoring five of the first six points before the Flyers (18-6, 7-2 GLVC) started clawing their way back into the set. Lewis drew even at nine and took its first lead of the set on a service ace by Chloe Fornetti, but the Miners retook the lead at 12-11 on a kill by
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) as part of a 6-0 run that eventually saw them take a 15-11 advantage.
The Miners led 19-16 following a kill by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), but the Flyers responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead for good in the set.
The second set opened with the teams going back-and-forth in the early going but with S&T up 7-6, the Miners ran off seven consecutive points and never looked back. S&T got six kills from
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) and four more from Burton in a set in which they led by as many as 12 points as it went on to even the match.
While the second set was a runaway in the Miners favor, the third set with a battle as the teams were tied on 18 different occasions with six lead changes along the way. The Miners had the advantage in the early going, but after Lewis tied the set at seven, neither team led by any more than two points the rest of the way.
With the Flyers leading 23-22,
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) delivered a set-tying kill for the Miners that went to review and was upheld to knot the score, then S&T finished off the set with a kill from
Hannah Feltz (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) and a block by Widiker to go up 2-1 heading into the fourth set.
The final set was tight as well with seven lead changes and 11 ties, but was one where Lewis had the upper hand early on. S&T took its first lead in the fourth as part of a 5-0 run, moving up 11-10 on a block by Feltz and
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb), only to see the Flyers run off three straight points to go back in front. Lewis would later lead 21-18, but thanks to two kills by Burton and an attack error by the Flyers, the Miners tied the set up.
After Lewis regained the lead on a Megan Schlechte kill, the Miners got a kill from
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) and were the beneficiary of another Lewis attack error to take a 23-22 lead. The Miners appeared to be at match point a moment later, but the Flyers won a challenge and the point to even it at 23. With the score tied at 24, a ball handling error by Lewis gave S&T the lead back before Mason finished it off with a kill.
Four Miners finished in double figures in kills, led by Mason with 16, while Ply and Burton had 12 apiece and Carrillo finished with 10. Feltz was in on five of S&T's seven blocks in the match, while
Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) had a team-high 25 digs and Mehaffy and
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) each finished with 26 assists. S&T hit .238 for the match, buoyed by its strong numbers in the second set.
Missouri S&T will return to action next Saturday when it faces Maryville in a 3 p.m. contest in St. Louis.
