Bridget Williams

The Lady Miners had not swept all three games of a match all season -- until Tuesday night when they routed Missouri Valley by a 3-0 count at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

UMR won the first two games by identical 30-24 scores, then got off to a fast start in the third game and went on to post a 30-17 victory to wrap up its second victory of the season.

The Lady Miners spent most of the night in the lead, opening up an early 11-5 lead in game one on a block by Samantha Klump. Missouri Valley was able to rally and knotted the game at 17, but starting with a kill by Maddie Owak, UMR scored five of the next six points to take control of the game for good.

Lauren Summerville, who finished the night with five of UMR's 10 service aces, had two during a late run before the Lady Miners wrapped up the win.

After falling behind 5-1 to open game two, UMR scored five straight points to take a 6-5 lead. The game remained tight until UMR scored six out of eight points after it was tied at 14. UMR led 24-19 before the Vikings closed to within two, but a kill by Leandra Pelae and one moments later by Katie Herington allowed UMR to extend its lead.

Pelae finished off the Vikings in game two with one of her team-high 12 kills on the night.

UMR spotted the Vikings the first point of game three, then put together its longest continuous scoring run in any game this season by scoring 11 straight points with Summerville serving. She had three aces during that stretch and Owak had three kills as well to allow UMR to build an early 11-1 lead.

The lead grew to 18-3 on a kill by Pelae before the Vikings tried the make the score respectable. Missouri Valley got to within nine at 24-15, but a Pelae kill sparked a 6-2 game-closing run that ended with a block by Klump and Ashlyn Balensiefer.

UMR had a .333 hitting percentage in the final game and finished the night at .207, while holding the Vikings to a .061 attack mark. Besides Pelae's 12 kills, Owak finished with eight and Klump with six; she also had a hand in four of UMR's seven blocks on the night.

Balensiefer had 32 assists while Bridget Williams led UMR with 19 digs.

UMR will head to the road for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference matches this weekend, starting Friday night against Bellarmine in Louisvlle, Ky.

(Photo by Anna Whelan)