Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Miner volleyball squad opens Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Thursday evening hosting Drury in a 7 p.m. contest at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. Thursday's match is Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night with free admission to employees. There will be a serving contest between sets two and three and a desert social following the match.
S&T went 3-2 this past weekend to get to within a game of .500 on the season. The Miners lost in straight sets to Upper Iowa last Thursday then won three straight sweeping past Christian Brothers and Pittsburg State last Friday on the first day of the Middle of Everywhere Classic. S&T handed Ashland its first loss of the season with a 3-1 win on Saturday morning to setup a rematch against Upper Iowa in the Middle of Everywhere Classic Tournament Championship match. The Miners took the opening set but dropped the next three to the Peacocks. Emilee Schlader (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) and Claire Friedlund (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) were named to the all-tournament team.
Drury enters Thursday's match with a record of 7-1 after going 4-0 last weekend at the Southwest Baptist Tournament. The Panthers opened the tournament with a sweep of Oklahoma Baptist and then downed Adams State in four sets on Friday. On Saturday, Drury swept Fort Lewis College and then defeated the host Bearcats in four sets.
As a team the Panthers are averaging 13.43 kills per set and have an attack percentage of .229. Sarah Kite and Bentley Mara lead the offensive attack averaging 3.43 and 2.96 kills/set respectively. Kendra Sater is the primary setter averaging 10.86 set assists per set while Bree Schmidt leads the way on the defensive side of the ball with 4.29 digs per set.
On Saturday S&T heads to Evansville, Ind., to take on the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles in a 3 p.m. contest at the Physical Activities Center. USI went 2-2 this past weekend in the Dunn Hospitality Invitational to improve to 2-6 on the season. The Screaming Eagles picked up both their wins last Friday sweeping past Purdue Northwest and then defeated Cedarville in four sets. On Saturday USI fell to Northwood in four sets and was swept by North Alabama. The Eagles open GLVC play on Thursday traveling to St. Louis to take on Maryville at 7 p.m.
USI is averaging nearly 11 kills per set and has an attack percentage of .172. Mikaila Humphrey leads the offensive averaging 3.29 kills/set while Amanda Jung and Alyssa Yochum are averaging 2.14 and 2.00 per set. Erika Peoples and Casey Cepicky have split time at the setter position with Peoples handing out 8.19 assists per set and Cepicky is averaging 6.67 per set. On the defensive side of the ball Shannon Farrell leads the way with 4.21 digs per set.
