ROLLA, MO- The Missouri S&T women's volleyball team is set to open their 2020-21 season this weekend when they travel to Drury on Friday night and then to Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon.

After a very successful 2019 season where the Miners finished 21-10, made it to the GLVC Tournament, finished with the best record since the 2015 season, and had the best 14-game start in almost a decade, S&T is looking to further their success under the leadership of head coach Andy Halaz.

The Miners return a good portion of their roster from last season including senior right side Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State), who was second on the team last year with 293 kills, and junior middle blocker Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, Mo./St. Teresa's Academy), who was third on the team with 287 kills and led the team with 112 total blocks.

Another notable return for S&T includes sophomore Abigail Widiker (Hammond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) who had a breakout freshman season with 191 kills, 240 digs, and 31 blocks in 91 sets played.

Halaz added eight new faces to the roster this past offseason; Madelyn Mason (Mount Hoerb, Wis./Mount Hoerb), Jordan Burton (Olathe, Kansas/Olathe South Senior High), Mia Alessio (Channahon, Ill./Minooka), Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, Kansas/Blue Valley Northwest), Rylee Miller (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Liberty), and Hannah Feltz (Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) come to Missouri S&T as freshmen while juniors Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) and Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) come to S&T after two years at Cal State Northridge and Laredo College, respectively.

The 2021 spring schedule will look a bit different than a normal fall schedule; the Miners will open the season on the road against Drury and Rockhurst on January 29^th and 30^th before welcoming William Jewell and Southwest Baptist in Gibson Arena on February 5^th and 12^th.

From there, the Miners will play in four tri-matches against non-divisional GLVC opponents, including hosting one on March 6 against Missouri-St. Louis and Southern Indiana. S&T will wrap up their season on the road at William Jewell and Southwest Baptist on March 23^rd and 27^th and then back in Gibson Arena against Drury and Rockhurst on April 8^th and 9^th.

Due to COVID-19 protocol's, no fans are allowed to attend home matches at this time. All home matches will be live streamed through our page at GLVCSN.com/mst.

For more information on Missouri S&T COVID protocol's, please visit coronavirus.mst.edu.