ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The match was an entertaining one, but the Miners were unable to walk away with a win, losing in four sets. The teams were relatively equally matched, but the Miners struggled to stop the Saints momentum in the third and fourth sets.
1st Set:
A back row kill from
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) and a double block from
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and
Grant Edmonds (Shawnee, KS/Edison) helped put the Miners up 6-2 early. The Saints retaliated with a 9-2 run to take a three point lead. The Miners took a timeout to slow Maryville's momentum. The Miners would reclaim the lead several points later with a 4-0 run. The teams stayed locked up until 18-18, where the Saints pulled ahead by two points. The Miners never allowed the Saints to pull away but found themselves down 23-24. With the first set on the line, Coach
Ryan Thompson sent in
Owen Price (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) to serve. Price's serve was exactly what the Miners needed, as it led directly to a kill for
Grant Edmonds (Shawnee, KS/Edison) off a poor reception from Maryville. Kills from Maryville's David Fleischer and S&T's
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) brought the score to 25-25. Unfortunately, the Miners were unable to close out the set, as the Saints took the next two points to win set one.
2nd Set:
Neither team pulled away in the opening points, but at 6-6,
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) had three kills in a row to give the Miners a 9-6 lead. That lead didn't last very long, as the Saints put together their own three point run to tie the set at 13-13. Kills from Sallade and
Josh Duett (Grain Valley, Mo./Grain Valley) reclaimed the lead for the Miners in the next two points, but the Saints knotted it up at 15-15 shortly after. A 4-0 run off two Meyer kills and an Edmonds ace prompted a timeout by the home team. Maryville came out of the timeout and took two points in a row, shrinking the Miners lead to 21-20. S&T called a timeout to maintain their advantage in the critical upcoming points. The teams traded points until an ace from
Jackson Daugherty (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll) brought the Miners one point away from taking the second set and forced Maryville to burn a timeout. The stoppage was ineffective though, as Daugherty served his second ace in a row to take set two for the Miners.
3rd Set:
A kill from Duett and a solo block by Rohlwing led the Miners to a quick 4-0 lead in the third. In response, a couple of kills and a block by the Saints brought the Miners lead to 7-6. The Saints would go on to tie the game a 9-9. The set got away from the Miners when the Saints went on an 11-1 run and pull ahead by eight. The gap would prove to be too much to overcome for the Miners, as they would lose the set 15-25.
4th Set:
The fourth set remained tight for the majority, with the score returning to a tie every other point up to 15-15. A six point run gave the Saints a 20-15 lead and brought them five points away from winning the match. They didn't allow the Miners to gain a foothold in the set, winning the set on a 5-2 run.
The attack was led by Meyer, who had 16 kills, while Rohlwing had another good blocking game with two solo blocks and one block assist. Daugherty also had the best service game of his young career with two aces in the second set. Edmonds had a good night as well, as he set an S&T record for digs in a match with 15.
The Miners will be back in St. Louis on Friday evening to face Cumberland University.
