PARKVILLE, Mo. – After dropping its first match of the season in five sets on Friday, Missouri S&T's men's volleyball team rebounded with a dominant offensive performance as it swept Viterbo to gain a split of its first day of action at the Pirate Invitational at Park University.
The Miners fell in a five-set affair with Morningside to begin the day, but handled Viterbo by scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-17 with a .346 attack percentage in the match to get their first win of the weekend and improve to 2-1 on the season.
Missouri S&T has two more games scheduled on Saturday as it will face Ottawa at noon and Park at 4 p.m.
Morningside 3, Miners 2
The Miners opened their first match by hitting .412 in the opening set and leading from nearly start to finish in the set to win 25-17. S&T gradually pulled away in the stanza, which it took control of after outscoring the Mustangs (1-0) 7-1 in a stretch early in the set.
However, Morningside captured the next two sets, winning 25-22 and then 26-24. In the second set, the Miners led for a good portion of the way until the Mustangs used a 7-0 run to overcome a six-point deficit and take its first lead of the afternoon at 18-17. The Miners did grab the lead once more in the set before the Mustangs closed out the win, then had a chance to close out the third set before Morningside scored the final three points to go up 2-1.
S&T dominated the fourth set, running out to a quick five-point lead and later rattling off a 7-2 surge to go up 16-7. The Miners closed the set, one where it hit .381, by scoring eight of the final 10 points and closing it on a combined block by
Zachary Carff (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) to win 25-12.
The fifth set went back and forth early, but with the set tied at eight, Morningside scored back-to-back points to take the lead for good. S&T got back to within a point four different times, but the Mustangs finished the contest by scoring the last two for the 15-12 victory.
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) led the Miners with 16 kills and
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) added 13 as S&T recorded a .284 attack percentage in the match. The Miners also had 11 blocks, led by six from
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and four by Meyer.
Miners 3, Viterbo 0
S&T opened its second match of the day by spotting Viterbo the first two points of the match, then went on a run where it outscored the Hawks 13-2. The Miners would not lead by fewer than four points for the remainder of the set and finished with four of the final five points as it posted a .407 attack percentage.
The Miners continued their strong offensive effort into set two where it hit .385, but it was a strong finish to the set to allow them to come away victorious. With the set tied at 16, the Miners got consecutive kills from
Josh Duett (Grain Valley, Mo./Grain Valley) and Sallade and a block from
Grant Edmonds (Shawnee, KS/Edison) to spark a 9-2 finish;
Grogan Kraus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) recorded two of the final three points on kills. S&T never trailed in set three, using a 6-1 burst midway through the set to break it open.
Sallade and Duett reached double figures in kills as Sallade had 11 and Duet posted 10. Kraus had two blocks in the match, while Edmonds finished with 31 assists.
