ROLLA, Mo. – Coming off a win in their final midweek action of the season, the Missouri S&T volleyball team will close out the regular season this weekend with a pair of matches, first at home Friday evening against Rockhurst before heading to Springfield Saturday to play Drury.
 
The Miners (18-9, 11-5), who clinched a spot in this year's 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship with the win over SBU, has been one of the statistically best teams in the country this year. S&T ranks ninth in NCAA Division II in total team blocks (251), 12th in team kills (1,379) and 20th in both team assists (1,244) and blocks per set (2.35). Individually, Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) ranks third in the nation in service aces (56) and 10th in kills (386) while Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) is third in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.43).
 
Gannaway leads S&T in kills while Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) has 261 and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 217. Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) and O'Boyle are the other players over 100 kills on the season with 134 and 116 respectively. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) leads the team with 862 assists while Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium), who has seen more action lately, has 205 assists on the season. Seven different Miners have double-digit service aces on the season led by Gannaway's 56. Merjil and Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) have 20 each, while O'Boyle and Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) has 15 apiece while Widiker and Seres has 14 and 10 respectively.
 
Defensively, Pearson's 380 digs are tops on the team followed by Merjil's 231. Gannaway is approaching 200 with 195 digs while Widiker has 178 and Netherlain has 174. Up front, O'Boyle cleared the 100-block mark for the season and stands at 113 total blocks, 23 of which are solo efforts. Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 88 blocks, including 14 solos, followed by Gannawayhas 64 blocks. Burton checks in with 43 while Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) has 23. Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and Widiker are also both in double-figure blocks with 18 and 15 respectively.
 
Rockhurst (19-10, 12-5) has a half-game lead over S&T in the GLVC West following a win over Drury in five sets Tuesday night. Averi Vomastic leads the Hawks offensively with 333 kills on the season while Justice Wingate is second on the squad with 236. Tera Reberry has 213 kills while three other players are all over 100 kills for the season. Gabbie Inman and Sarah Montague split setting duties and have 579 and 477 assists respectively while Maureen Reilly has 117 to her credit. Reilly leads the team with 30 service aces followed by Inman with 25 and Vomastic with 24 and Montague with 21.
 
Defensively, Reilly also leads the Hawks with 526 digs, averaged nearly five per set. Inman is second on the club with 256 digs followed by Vomastic with 240 while three other players are all over 100 kills on the season. Wingate leads RU with 111 total blocks and her 17 solo efforts are also tops on the team. Tera Reberry's 79 blocks are second on the team followed by Sydney McDonald's 60. Three other players for Rockhurst have over 50 blocks and four more are in double figures.
 
Drury (19-10, 9-7) is looking to rebound after falling to Rockhurst Tuesday by hosting William Jewell Friday night before hosting S&T Saturday. Four Panthers are over 200 kills for the season, led by Taylor Forth's 276 and followed by Makina Wratten at 252. Gabriele Olivera checks in with 204 while Maddie Baumer has 201 to her credit. Three other players for DU are all over 100 kills for the season. Chloe Rear has been the primary setter for Drury this season and has 596 assists this season. Gabby Birmingham has also seen a fair amount of action and has 382 assists while Kallie Fenscke has 145 on the season. In the service game, Juliana Squire leads the club with 40 aces followed by Emma Fox's 33.
 
Squire also leads the team with 457 digs and is again followed by Fox with 334. Rear is next with 187 digs and is one of four other Panthers with over 100 digs in 2021. Up front, Forth leads DU in blocks with 120 while Wratten is close behind with 115 and leads the team with 16 solo blocks. Eight other players for Drury are in double-figure blocks for the season, including three players with 36 blocks each. As a team, Drury has 264.5 blocks on the season.
 
S&T swept Rockhurst in straight sets last weekend and prevailed over Drury 3-1 at home on September 28.