ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri Western volleyball split a pair of matches on the final day of the Miner Invitational at Missouri S&T in Rolla Saturday, as they are now 3-1 on the season.  The Griffons swept Upper Iowa in the first match as they won 25-23, 25-23, 27-25 and then they fell to Missouri S&T, 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-18, 25-21).

MWSU was led by Allie Kerns in the match against Upper Iowa as she had 16 kills to lead three Griffons that had double figure kills.  Ali Tauchen added 12 and Karly Tharp finished with 10.  Jenna Boland ran the Missouri Western offense efficiently again as she had 38 assists and the Griffons committed just nine errors over the three sets.  They hit .291 as a team.  Three Griffs had double figure digs as Emilee McGowan finished with 13, while Jessica Sachen and Hailey Crane added 12 each.
 
In the final match of the Miner Invitational, Missouri Western suffered its first loss of the season.  MWSU hit .143 as a team and S&T hit .177, but Missouri S&T had 20 more kills and 31 more total attacks than the Griffons.
 
Five players had at least six kills as Missouri Western was led by Tharp (9), Tauchen (8) and Crane (8).  Boland added 32 assists, while Sachen (15), Tharp (13) and Crane (11) each had double figure digs.  Danielle Moje led MWSU with five blocks.
 
The Griffons will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Owensboro, Kentucky for the Kentucky Wesleyan Tournament.  They'll face Henderson State in their first match at 9:00 a.m. on Friday and then square off against West Virginia State later that day at 3:00 p.m.