Quincy takes down Lady Miners in four games

Lauren Summerville

QUINCY, Ill. -- The Lady Miners were able to end one streak Saturday, but couldn't halt the other as they dropped a 3-1 decision to Quincy in Great Lakes Valley Conference volleyball action Saturday.

The Lady Miners had not won a game in a match since posting their victory over Drury on Sept. 7, but won a hotly-contested second game 33-31 to draw even in the match. However, the Hawks, who won game one 30-26, won 30-18 and 30-26 in the next two games to take the contest.

Quincy, who won its first conference match of the season Friday over Missouri-St. Louis, jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the afternoon, but UMR fought back and drew even at 20. The Lady Miners got their first lead at 24-23 on a block by Maddie Owak and Lynsey Jorgenson, but the Hawks scored the next six points and eventually came away with the game.

UMR took an early lead in game two, but Quincy took the advantage at 14-13 and maintained the lead until UMR drew even at 27 on a kill by Leandra Pelae. The game was tied at 28 when Katie Herington's service ace gave UMR a game point opportunity, but it would be on the fourth chance that the Lady Miners would finally claim the game. Kills by Samantha Klump and Lauren Summerville after the game was tied at 31 allowed UMR to even up the match.

Quincy made a 12-1 run in the middle of game three to take a decisive lead to win that game, then rallied from a six-point deficit in the fourth game to take the match.

The Lady Miners took a 20-14 lead on a kill by Pelae and forced Quincy into a timeout. UMR was able to keep its lead in that neighborhood and went up by five at 24-19 on a block by Klump and Ashlyn Balensiefer. But from there, the Hawks were able to string together eight consecutive points and eventually won the match.

Pelae finished with 18 kills to lead UMR, while Summerville had 11 kills and Klump 10 in the contest. Balensiefer had 55 assists in the contest while Bridget Williams led UMR with 23 digs.

UMR finished the day with a .208 hitting percentage, buoyed by a .488 mark in game two when it had 23 kills and only two attack errors.

The Lady Miners will host Missouri Valley Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. Fans are encouraged to wear black apparel to the game as part of "Black-Out Night" at UMR.