ROLLA, Mo. – After taking a break from Great Lakes Valley Conference play last weekend at the Midwest Regional Crossover, the Missouri S&T volleyball team will be back at Gibson Arena this weekend for a pair of matches opposite Maryville and Lindenwood.
 
The Miners (13-7, 6-3) enter the weekend tied atop the GLVC West Division with Rockhurst and are coming off a 1-2 showing last weekend. S&T won in five sets over Saginaw Valley State and took a hard-fought loss in five sets against #25 Michigan Tech before closing the weekend with a 3-1 loss to Walsh.
 
Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) is closing in on the 300-kill mark for the season and leads S&T with 273 kills along with 42 service aces. Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) is second on the team with 185 kills while Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 144 kills on the season. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) is pushing up near the 600-assist mark for the season with 569 so far on the season.
 
Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) leads the Miners with 265 digs this season while Merjil is second with 158. Gannaway's 148 are good for third while Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) has 115. Up front, Ply leads the team in blocks with 73 while Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) has 64 to her credit. Gannaway has 49 blocks while Merjil is approaching 40 with 36 entering the weekend.
 
Maryville (8-11, 1-7) is coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Crossover, knocking off Lake Erie 3-0 and Northern Michigan 3-2 before dropping a 3-1 decision to Parkside. Mikaela Kues leads the Saints with 118 kills while Makenna Brauman is the only other player with more than 100 kills at 105. Maryville has five other players on their roster with at least 50 kills this season. Abbie Schnell leads the team with 583 assists and splits setting duties with Taylor Hasbrook and Avery Wibbenmeyer. Hasbrook's 29 service aces lead the Saints and is one of three players with 20 or more aces, joined by A.J. Hallerman (21) and Schnell (20).
 
Hallerman leads Maryville with 192 digs and is one of four Saints with over 100 digs on the season. Hasbrook has 180 to her credit while Schnell and Regina Elguezabal have 134 and 128 respectively. Grace Knadler is tops on the club with 33 blocks while Kues is second with 28.  Karolina Rodowski has 26 blocks as six other Saints are in double-figure blocks this season.
 
Lindenwood (12-6, 5-2) is also coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Crossover, dropping their opening match 3-0 to Ferris State before winning in straight sets against Trevecca Nazarene and Findlay. The Lions have won four of their last five matches and play William Jewell Friday before coming to Rolla Saturday. Rebecca Janke, whose brother Nick competes on the Miners' track & field team, leads the team with 161 kills. Mackenzi Sifuentes is second on the team with 144 while Audrey Weber (116) and Madilyn Dement (104) are the other players for Lindenwood with over 100 kills. Allie Otten handles the lion's share of setting duties, having dished out 559 assists so far this season. Sifuentes leads LU in service aces with 34.
 
Defensively, Jessie Seidel leads the Lions with 235 digs and is one of four players with 100 or more digs, joined by Allie Otten (180), Jenna Garrett (172) and Nyah Wilson (163). Sifuentes also leads LU in blocks with 50 and is followed closely by Janke with 45.

Saturday will also be Senior Day for the Missouri S&T volleyball. This year's seniors, Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State), Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy), Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan), Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve), Sarah Cavanaugh (Highlands Ranch, CO/Thunder Ridge) and student assistant Parker Zelei will be recognized in a ceremony before the match.
 
Last season, S&T defeated the Lions 3-2 in St. Charles and picked up a win over the Saints in straight sets in St. Louis.