ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri S&T volleyball team will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend at Gibson Arena with a pair of GLVC matches against two of the top teams in the league's East Division. S&T welcomes Illinois Springfield to Rolla Friday evening in a contest scheduled for 7 P.M. before taking on #13 Lewis on Homecoming Saturday at 3 P.M.
 
The Miners (11-4, 5-2) were downed in straight sets Tuesday night on the road at the Mark Twain Building by rival Missouri-St. Louis. Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) led the Miners with 10 kills while Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) had 22 assists in the loss.
 
Gannaway leads the team with 211 kills and is second in the GLVC in that category, while Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) has 185 kills and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 104. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) is closing in on 400 assists for the season and enters the weekend with 393 while Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) has 151 assists to her credit. When it comes to service aces, Gannaway leads the team and is second in the GLVC with 34.
 
Meiko Perason's 198 digs are tops on the club and are just outside the top 10 in the GLVC. Five other Miners are also north of kills, with Gannawway posting 134, Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) with 115 Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) with 103 and Merjil with 102. Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) continues to lead the team with 64 blocks and remains near the top of the GLVC in that category, while Ply has 56 and Gannaway has 40.
 
The Prairie Stars (6-9, 4-3) enter action Friday following a five-set loss to Lewis in Springfield Tuesday night. UIS gave the Flyers a scare but came up short in their upset bid and saw their four-match winning streak snapped. The Prairie Stars are still looking for their first road win of the season, posting a 5-4 record at home and going 1-2 on a neutral court.
 
Three players are north of 100 kills for the season for UIS, led by Angele Denney with 135, followed by Hannah Nicolaisen with 12 and Brianna Bush with 115. Becca Blakeley has been the primary setter for UIS this season, dishing out 430 assists, the ninth-nest mark in the GLVC. Blakeley also leads the team in aces with 12 and is one of three players with 100 or more digs this fall with an even 100.
 
Amanda McConnell leads the Prairie Stars with 273 digs while Angela Denney ranks second with 166. Bush is tops on the club with 64 blocks, a mark which is among the league leaders, while Nicolaisen has 56 to her credit. Megan Krasowski has also been a force up front, tallying 41 blocks while Blakeley has 34 to her credit.
 
Lewis (13-3, 8-0), ranked 13th in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll, knocked off USI in a five-set match Tuesday and are riding an eight-match winning streak since the start of GLVC play. The Flyers have four players with better than 100 kills on the season, with Ava Venema leading the way with 183 and ranking among the top of the conference in that category. Megan Schlechte (148) Natalie Stefanski (147) and Juliana Van Loo (121) also lead the Flyers' offense while Bella Ray is just shy of 100 with 90 kills. Lauren Stenman leads Lewis and the GLVC with 595 assists and is averaging an eye-popping 10.44 per set and also is tops on the team with 17 aces.
 
On the defensive side, Jamie Poppen leads the way with 341 digs and is one of five Flyers with more than 100 on the season, joined by Stefanski, Schelchte, Stenman and Ally Hickey. Eight different players are in double-digits for blocks this season, led by Vanama with 45 and followed closely by Ray with 44.
 
Last spring, the Miner knocked off the Prairie Stars in straight sets on the road and split two matches with the Lewis, falling in five sets at the Maryville tri-match to the then #1 Flyer before downing the Flyers 3-1 in the GLVC Tournament semifinals to advance to the championship game.