CHESTERFIELD, MO -- Missouri S&T fell to the Maryville Saints in the IVA semifinals today, ending their 2025 season. S&T claimed sets one and two by scores of 25-23 and 28-26 before dropping the next three 26-24, 25-20, 15-10.
Set 1
The Saints took a 4-1 lead in the opening points of the match, but
Caleb Rohlwing (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) would get a kill and pair with
Aaron Sallade (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) on a double block to start a 3-0 run that tied the set at 4-4. The Miners would use a three-point run to take a 13-11 lead later, holding that for a few points until the Saints responded with a 3-0 run of their own to retake the lead. Kills from Sallade and
Nate Meyer (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) gave the Miners five out of six points late in the set, putting them up 21-19 late. Maryville would not go away though, taking three of the next four to tie the set at 22-22 before the Miners closed the set on a 3-1 run.
Set 2
The Miners lead by as many as three early in the second, until a 4-0 Maryville run put the Saints ahead 7-6. Two 3-0 runs for the Saints would put them ahead 23-18 as they threatened to pull away and tie the match at 1-1. The Miners would take the next four points before dropping another point though, giving them a more manageable 24-22 score late in the set. Sallade picked up a kill to save the first set point, going back to serve with S&T trailing 24-23. He would pick up kills on the next two points, flipping the script and putting the Miners up 25-24 to earn a set point of their own. The teams would trade points in the next four, bringing the score to 27-26 where
Zachary Carff (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) picked up a kill to end the set and put the Miners up 2-0.
Set 3
Maryville used runs of 4-1 and 3-0 to pull ahead 9-4. They would continue to pull away later with another 3-0 run that put them up 14-7. A couple of 3-0 runs for S&T would put them right back in it at 19-17 though, leading to a tie at 21-21 after another Sallade kill. The teams remained knotted up until the Saints took the set at 26-24 after back-to-back double blocks.
Set 4
The teams exchanged small runs early, with the Saints' using theirs to take an 8-4 advantage. Maryville would hold that lead until the Miners went ahead 14-13 on a 6-1 run fueled by kills by Meyer, Sallade, and
Tyler Johnwick (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East). The Saints responded immediately with a 5-0 run to retake the lead. The teams exchanged 3-0 runs in the following points, making it 21-17. The Miners were unable to catch Maryville late as the Saints went on to take the set at 25-20.
Set 5
Maryville got out to a 5-2 lead early, threatening to pull away and end the final set quickly. S&T would make it a one point game with back-to-back points though. Three straight kills by the Saints rebuilt their lead, but the Miners responded again with a 3-0 run of their own. Maryville lowered the hammer at 10-9 though, taking five of the last six points to win the match.
Sallade set another personal-best for kills in a match, improving upon yesterday's 19 kills with a total of 23 in today's match.
Bartosz Chmielewski (Aurora, IL/Metea Valley) and
Grant Edmonds (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) both had standout performances today, with Chmielewski's 22 digs and Edmonds' 56 assists setting new program single-game records.
Johnwick ends the season with a .448 hitting percentage, breaking Rohlwing's single-season program record of .406. Chmielewski set a new program record for digs in a season with 196, while Edmonds set a new record for assists in a season with 688.
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