Rolla, Mo. – After playing its first 11 matches on the road to begin the season the Missouri S&T Miner volleyball will play its home opener on Friday night hosting Saint Joseph's in a 7 p.m. contest. Friday's contest begins a stretch for S&T that will see them play its next seven matches and 11 of its next 16 at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.
The Miners (6-5, 0-2 GLVC) look to snap a three-match losing streak when they welcome the Pumas (4-4, 0-2 GLVC) this weekend. S&T traveled to Central Missouri last Tuesday dropping a non-conference match to the sixth ranked Jennies in a four sets. The Miners then traveled up north to begin GLVC play dropping a four set match at Wisconsin-Parkside and then dropped a hard fought five set match at Lewis on Saturday.
Krista Haslag (Linn, Mo./Helias ) continues to lead the S&T attack averaging over three kills per set while
Carlie Combs (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) is averaging 2.68 kills/set and
Gracey Moon (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) is at 2.00 kills per set. Haslag continues her climb up the career kills chart with 1,060 and is 28 behind Julie Meyer (2008-09, 2012) for second place and 184 away from passing Erin Bekebrede (2008-11) for the top spot in the school record book.
Jackie Pyles (White Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) continues her strong play from the libero spot averaging 5.38 digs/set which is second in the conference and she ranks amongst the national leaders in digs per set. Pyles leads the GLVC in total digs with 226 and has posted double figure dig totals in every match this season including a career-high 33 digs at Lewis on Saturday.
Saint Joseph's enters play this weekend having dropped two straight and three of its last four since opening the season with a 3-1 mark. The Pumas dropped their first two conference matches last weekend getting swept by Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville at home.
SJC is an averaging 11.45 kills/set but have also allowed 11.45 kills/set. It's led offensively by Bridget Krasowski and Lauren Robertson who are averaging 2.79 and 2.14 kill per set respectively. Megan Sturm is the primary setter distributing 4.72 assists per set while Katie Dugan has dug up 131 attacks for an average of 4.52 per set.
On Saturday the Miners will welcome the Indianapolis Greyhounds for a 3 p.m. match at the Bullman. UIndy snapped a five match losing streak this past weekend with sweeps of Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis to improve to 4-7, 2-0 in the GLVC. Like the Miners, the 'Hounds have played a tough schedule to begin the season playing three teams currently ranked in the top 10 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll.
UIndy is averaging 12.5 kills per set but are allowing over 14 kills per set and have been outhit this season by a .230-to-.214 clip. Becca Lira, the GLVC's Offensive Player of the Week, leads the squad with 150 kills and is averaging 3.66 kills/set. Shelby Ruffner is second on the team with 2.17 kills/set. Natalie Wichern is the primary setter averaging 10.38 assists/set.
Bri Heffernan, the GLVC's Defensive Player of the Week, leads the way on the defensive side of the ball with 176 attacks dug up and is averaging 4.29 digs/set. Hailey Brown and Lira are averaging 2.76 and 2.20 digs per set respectively.
S&T continues its homestand next week hosting Missouri Western in a nonconference game on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
