BOLIVAR, MO -- Missouri S&T has now won their last 4 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matches in a row, defeating Southwest Baptist 3-1 on Friday evening. Kosmopolis set a new personal best in kills at the Division II level tonight, picking up 18 in the 4 set victory.
Missouri S&T jumped out to an early lead of 7-3 in the first set, with four different Miners contributing kills in that stretch. A timeout by the Bearcats would lead to 6-1 run for the home team, giving them a 9-8 lead that they would eventually stretch to 17=12 after another 6-1 run. S&T was able to put together a couple of 3-0 runs late in the set, tying the match at 24-24 before a kill by SBU's Gabriela Dupree and a service ace gave the Bearcats set one.
The Miners took another early lead in set two but watched that slip away again when the Bearcats went ahead 10-8 on a five to one run. Kills from
Addie Schoenberger (Menomonee Falls, WI/Hamilton Sussex),
Danielle Wilke (Palmer Lake, CO/Palmer Ridge), and
Kate Zipprich (Hardin, IL/Calhoun) along with an ace from
Elly Decker (Manhattan, IL/Lincoln Way West) helped S&T take 8 out of 10 points later, putting them ahead 20-14. Kills from Zipprich, Wilke, and
Lexi Kosmopolis (O'Fallon, IL/Newsome) would give the Miners set two at 25-16, closing it out on a 5-1 run.
With the set score knotted up at 1-apiece, Southwest Baptist took the first three points of the third set. A 4-0 S&T run would give the Miners the lead a few points later at 6-5, an advantage that they would add to with three kills in a row at 11-8. The Bearcats would draw even again just five points later, tying the set at 12-12. Back-to-back kills by Zipprich would complete a 4-0 run for S&T later in the set, giving them a 20-16 lead. SBU would start to chip away at the deficit, cutting it to two points before late blocks by Zipprich, Decker, and Wilke would help the Miners take set three 25-22.
Neither team led by more than two early in the final set, until Kosmopolis picked up three kills in four points to help the Miners go on a 7-1 run. Kosmopolis would help the Miners add a few more to their lead with a kill and an ace at 15-9, before an ace from
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) capped a 5-0 run that put S&T up 21-11. Kosmopolis picked up three more kills in the final moments of the match, ending the set with 11 kills and fueling a 3-1 S&T victory.
The Miners attack improved as the match went on, hitting at .361 in the fourth and ending the night with a .282 hitting percentage. The teams' 62 kills are the most in a match this season, averaging 15.5 per set.
Individually, Kosmopolis' 18 kills were acoompanied by 10 each for Schoenberger, Decker, and Wilke. Decker also picked up 10 digs, giving her the 6th double-double of her season. Arand and
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) equally split the work in assists, each recording 24 while Arand added a team-high 13 digs for her second double-double of the year. Both marks are season highs for Arand.
What's Next
S&T faces Drury tomorrow at 3pm in Springfield.
Sign up for our email blast at https://minerathletics.com/subscribe.aspx
Follow Miners Volleyball on X and Instagram at @miners_wvb.
