ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's volleyball team got off to a sluggish start Thursday, but regrouped in the second set and took the final three sets in its home opener as it downed Emporia State 3-1 at Gibson Arena. The Hornets won 25-19 in set one, but S&T ran off wins of 27-25, 25-19 and 26-24 over the three ensuing sets to win its second straight match.
Emporia State used an early 5-0 run early in set one to take the lead for good, leading by as many as six points during the set as the Miners were plagued by eight attack errors in the opening stanza. The Hornets then got out to as much as a five point lead at the outset of set two, but shortly after an S&T timeout, the Miners began working their way back into the contest.
S&T drew even at 13 after a ball handling error by the Hornets, then after falling behind by four again, rallied back with a 5-0 run to grab the lead. An attack error by Emporia, followed by a kill by
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), gave the Miners a 22-20 lead before the Hornets ran off four of the next five points to reach set point. A kill by
Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) kept the Miners alive, then the Miners got two set points of their own before ending it on a kill by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb).
The Miners grabbed control of set three in the early stages, using a 6-3 burst to take a 12-7 lead following a service ace by Ply. S&T would build its lead to seven following a combined block by
Hannah Feltz (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) and
Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central), then closed the set with a kill by Feltz and another service ace by
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty).
S&T hit only .081 in the opening set and .114 in the second due to 15 attack errors along the way, but had just four in the third set to hit .235 and forced eight attack errors by the Hornets as they finished with a .000 mark in the set.
The Miners then recorded their best hitting mark for a set on the night in the final stanza, posting a .316 mark. The set was tied on 16 occasions and the Miners had two set points. The first came after an attack error by ESU but was averted by a Lillian Ziegler kill, but kills by Widiker and Carrillo put the match to a close.
Burton had six kills in the final set and shared the team lead in that category with Mason, while Ply had 12 kills and hit .435 in the contest. The Miners also recorded 11 service aces, including three by
Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest). Elise Mehaffey had 22 assists and
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) added 21 for S&T, while Arand was also credited with 13 digs. The Miners finished the night with a .183 attack percentage for the contest.
Missouri S&T will play twice on Friday at Gibson Arena, facing Lake Superior State at 2 p.m. and Union at 7 p.m. as part of a five-game day in the S&T Volleyball Tournament.
