ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team swept Missouri S&T to avenge its season opening loss to the Miners on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons win their sixth straight and improve to 14-4, 7-1 GLVC while S&T drops to 10-6, 4-3 GLVC.
UMSL fell behind 5-2 to begin the match before going on an 11-0 run to grab an eight-point lead.
Charlotte Richards had three aces and two kills in that run while
Hailey Flowers added a pair of kills as well. That lead grew to as many as 12 at 24-12 after a kill from Richards as the Tritons would win the opener 25-13.
The middle stanza featured eight ties and a lead change. The Miners led by as many as two at 12-10 but UMSL rallied with a 13-8 run to take a 23-20 advantage after a kill from
Mya Elliott. S&T scored two of the next three points to close within 24-22 but wouldn't get any closer as Hannah Merjil hit her serve into the net to give the Tritons the 25-22 set win.
UMSL dominated the final set racing out to a 7-2 lead and never looked back. The Miners made things close with a 5-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 9-7 but the Tritons countered scoring eight of the next nine points to build a 17-8 cushion. The lead eventually grew to 10 before S&T made one last push to get within five. It wouldn't be enough though as the Tritons got back-to-back kills Elliott to win 25-19 and complete the sweep.
While UMSL's offense played well hitting .267 for the match it was its defensive performance that stood out finishing with nine total blocks, averaging over 17 digs per set and holding the Miners to a .171 hitting percentage.
The Tritons also served extremely well with 10 aces in the contest including six in the final frame.
Richards led all players with a match-high 19 kills while
Lexie Rang added nine and Elliott finished with eight.
Caitlin Bishop had 39 assists,
Hannah Copeland had seven blocks and
Kylie Adams finished with 19 digs.
Jordan Burton led S&T with 12 kills while Madelyn Mason finished with eight kills. Merjil dished out 16 assists and Lexi Netherlain had 18 digs.
UMSL will be back action next weekend as it travels to Hammond, Ind., for the Midwest Region Crossover next Friday and Saturday at the Hammond Sportsplex. Opponents and times will be announced on Monday.
