ROLLA, Mo. - The S&T men's volleyball returned to the court for the first time in two weeks Monday night and defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering in straight sets to move to 4-0 in Gibson Arena in its inaugural season.
The Miners (6-8) won the first two sets 25-23 and 25-19 respectively before defeating the Raiders in the final set 25-21 to stretch its win streak to three games.
In the early stages of the match, the Miners fell behind 9-4, but began working their way back into the set with a 3-0 run, capped by a pair of
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) kills to cut the deficit down to two. MSOE responded with its own 3-0 run, then the teams exchanged points until S&T recorded another 3-0 run that started with back-to-back kills by
Jonathan Piggot (Roundlake, Ill./Grayslake Central) and
Grogan Kraus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) added a block that cut the deficit to one at 16-15. Meyer tied the set at 17-17 on a service ace, then
Josh Duett (Grain Valley, Mo./Grain Valley) and
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) gave S&T its first lead since opening point of the set at 19-18.
With the set tied at 22, Meyer had back-to-back kills prior to a service error by MSOE that gave S&T the set.
In the second set, S&T got off to a 3-1 lead after an assisted block by Rohlwing and Orr and two attacking errors by the Raiders. The set remained close and was tied at 10 following a service ace by MSOE's Eric Mueller. However, the Miners responded with a 4-0 run that was started by a kill by Meyer where it was capped off on an assisted block by Kraus and Meyer to take a 14-10 lead. After the Raiders cut the deficit to one at 14-13, S&T had another 4-0 run to take a five-point lead.
MSOE cut the deficit to two at 18-16 on a kill by Ian Glashagel which promoted a timeout by S&T, but after the stoppage, the Miners closed the set by outscoring the Raiders 7-3 as Meyer closed the set with a kill.
The match went back-and-forth in the final set, as the teams swapped the lead several times. S&T held a 13-10 before MSOE went on a 5-1 run to take the lead at 15-14. The Miners bounced back to tie the it at 18, then went on a 4-1 run that started with a kill by Meyer that gave S&T a 22-19 lead. S&T would score three of the final five points to close out the set and match to keep their record perfect in Gibson Arena.
The Miners were led in kills by Meyer with 17, while Rohlwing and Orr added three each. Meyer ended the match with a .556 hitting percentage to lead the Miners, while Orr had a career-high 23 assists and Carff and Rohlwing added two blocks each.
The Raiders (4-6) were led in kills by Shavits with 10 as James Zippay added seven.
The Miners will play Emmanuel College (Ga.) this Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Mo.
