FORT WAYNE, IN -- Missouri S&T Men's Volleyball upset MIVA opponent Purdue Fort Wayne in five sets on Saturday, giving S&T their first victory of the season. The Miners picked up set one 25-21 but dropped sets two and three before rallying in the fourth at 25-23 and closing the match at 15-13.
Neither team could put together back-to-back points to start set one, until a kill by
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) was followed by an S&T double block to put the Miners ahead 5-3. The Mastodons put together a 4-0 run in response, taking their first lead at 7-5. Kills from Rohlwing,
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey), and
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) earned the Miners a 4-1 run later, putting the Miners ahead by one again. Back-to-back kills and an ace from Meyer helped S&T to a 6-2 run that increased their lead to 23-19, allowing
Zachary Carff (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) to close the set with a kill a few points later.
The teams exchanged 4-1 runs to start the second set before a 5-1 run by S&T put the Miners up 11-8. Purdue Fort Wayne immediately closed the gap, picking up two kills and an ace to tie the set at 11-11. The Mastodons went ahead by two later, but the Miners caught up at 20-20. S&T and PFW exchanged service errors late, but remained tied up to 23-23 before the Mastodons nabbed the last two points of the frame to even the match at one set all.
Purdue Fort Wayne kept rolling to start set three, taking a 7-2 lead early. A pair of blocks and a kill from
Tyler Johnwick (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East) spurred S&T to a 5-1 run that cut the deficit to one at 9-8, eventually catching up at 11-11. PFW continued to link points together, using a three-point run late to give them some breathing room as they pulled ahead just enough to take the third set 25-20.
The Miners opened set four with a triple block, but a 5-1 run by PFW put them up by two before the Miners put together a 5-1 of their own to reclaim the lead. Lead changes continued throughout the set, with a pair of 3-0 runs later leading to a couple more. Three kills from Meyer in the last eleven points of the set helped the Miners maintain a small lead in the final points and fend off a late rally by the Mastodons as S&T held on to take the set at 25-23 and force a decisive fifth.
Two kills from Rohlwing and one apiece from Carff and Meyer helped S&T string together back-to-back points early and give them a 7-5 lead. The Mastodon's cut S&T's lead to one at 9-8 after an S&T service error and a kill by Logan Muir. They would eventually tie the set at 13-13 after a kill and a solo block in consecutive points. Meyer responded with a kill to give the Miners match point, leading to an attack error by PFW to give S&T the final point and the 3-2 victory.
Blocking and clean hitting were the two biggest stories of the match, with the Miners recording 9 blocks to PFW's 6 and just 13 attack errors to the Mastodons' 20. Meyer led the Miners with 23 points, putting down 18 kills and 3 service aces. Rohlwing was the biggest contributor to the Miners defensive front, picking up 5 block assists while Meyer added another four. Both Miners tied personal bests in the match... Rohlwing's 10 kills and Meyer's 4 blocks while Carff recorded his 300th career kill.
What's Next
S&T travels to the east coast next week for matches at Fairleigh Dickinson, Dominican (NY), and St. Thomas Aquinas.
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