Miners Men's Volleyball played three close sets with the visiting Lindenwood Lions but were unable to come away with a win on Thursday night, losing in straight sets. They will look to rebound Friday night against Talladega College.
 
Set 1:
The Miners first point of the game came at 1-1 off a service error from Lindenwood's Ian Schuller. To some extent, this would set the tone for the match, as each team had 16 service errors in the match, each teams' season high for service errors in a three-setter. The teams traded points early, with a pair of Lindenwood attacking errors giving the Miners an early 4-2 lead. S&T eventually improved their lead to three before the Lions went on a 5-1 run to take a one-point lead halfway through the first. At 15-15, the Lions went on another run to take an 18-15 lead. The Miners were unable to grab enough control to close the deficit and went on to lose the set 25-20.
 
Set 2:
The Miners found themselves in a small hole early in the second, down 4-7. They were able to close that gap to a single point before the Lions went on a 5-1 run to take a five-point lead. A kill from Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) and an ace from Tyler Johnwick (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East) helped as the Miners dug in, bringing themselves within three points of the visitors at 10-13. Lindenwood responded with a kill, a block and an ace in the next three points as they went up 17-11 over the Miners. After trading points again, the Miners looked out of gas down 15-23 late in the second. While they ultimately lost the set, the Miners did put together a four-point run to end the set with a respectable score of 20-25.
 
Set 3:
Coach Ryan Thompson made a switch to his lineup to start the third, giving Grogan Kraus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) the start. Just like the second, the Miners were down 4-7 early, but this time they went on a three-point run to draw even with the Lions. Lindenwood put together a their own three-point run a few points later to take an 11-8 lead over the Miners. Neither team put together a significant run for the next several minutes, almost perfectly trading point for point. Down 15-18, the Miners looked like they found some momentum off kills from Josh Duett (Grain Valley, Mo./Grain Valley) and Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey), as they brought the score to 17-18. The Lions responded with two points in a row of their own to go back up by three, before the Miners answered with another pair to make it 19-20. While the Miners played well in the final moments of the match, the Lions refused to give up a set, extending their lead to three before closing out the set 25-22 over the home team.
 
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) led the offense with 10 kills and his second-best hitting percentage of the season (.400 on 20 attempts). Sallade also paired with Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) for a couple of blocks in the third set which were huge for momentum in that set. Defending the Lions hitters was a struggle though, as the Miners had a season low 15 digs in the match.
 
The Miners will be back in action this Friday at 7 p.m. in Gibson Arena as they take on the Talladega College Tornadoes.
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