TEANECK, NJ -- Missouri S&T Men's Volleyball improved to 2-1 on Friday night, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson in four sets to win their second in a row. The Miners prevailed 29-27, 25-27, 25-22, and 25-21.
Kills from Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) and Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) fueled a 7-2 S&T run to open the first set, but the Knights responded with a 5-1 run to tie the score at 8-8. Rohlwing hit an ace while Tyler Johnwick (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East) and Zachary Carff (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) contributed kills to an 8-1 run in response, putting the Miners up 16-9. The Knights slowly worked their way back into the set in the following points, routinely getting back-to-back points to eventually tie the set at 22-22. The Miners refused to relinquish the lead, though, earning five set points before putting it away at 29-27.
Meyer recorded three kills early in set two, helping the Miners take a 10-6 lead that quickly disappeared after a 4-0 FDU run. The Miners looked to pull ahead again with a 5-0 run featuring two more kills from Meyer along with an ace from Johnwick, but the Knights took six of the next seven points to draw even at 16-all. Neither team led by more than two the remainder of the set, leading to a double block by Meyer and Grogan Kraus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) saving a set point before back-to-back kills from FDU ended the set at 27-25 to tie the match at one set apiece.
Neither the Miners nor the Knights were able to score more than two in a row early in the third set, with Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) putting down three kills early to help the Miners keep even at 14-14. A double block by Carff and Johnwick was followed by a pair of FDU attacking errors, giving the Miners their largest lead of the set at 17-14. The Miners would increase their lead to five at 21-16, providing the necessary cushion to fend off a late comeback attempt by FDU and go up two sets to one.
An ace from Johnwick along with a trio of S&T kills gave the Miners a 7-4 lead to open the fourth. A pair of blocks and a kill by FDU would put the Knights ahead just a few points later at 8-7 before kills from Carff and Meyer put the Miners back in the driver's seat. The teams remained knotted up at 16-all, exchanging 3-0 runs in the following points to make it 20-20. A Knights service error followed by an ace from Grant Edmonds (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) gave the Miners a two-point edge, with Kraus, Meyer, and Sallade combining for a couple of blocks in the next two points to set up the match-winning kill from Sallade at 25-21.
Meyer led the team in kills with 13, adding 9 digs, 5 blocks, and an ace. The Miners recorded 10 blocks to FDU's 8, led by Kraus with six blocks and Meyer with five, both marking personal game-highs. The team recorded 7 aces, their most in a four-setter since last January vs. Quincy.
What's Next
The Miners continue their trip to the East Coast with matches against Dominican University of New York on Saturday and St. Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday.
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