ROLLA, Mo. – After being picked to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division in the coaches' pre-season poll, Missouri S&T's volleyball team will get its 2021 season underway this weekend as it hosts the Miner Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Gibson Arena.

The Miners open play in the two-day event at 9 a.m. Friday morning as they take on Purdue Northwest, then plays again at 4:30 p.m. that afternoon against Upper Iowa.  S&T's two games on Saturday will take place at 10:30 a.m. against Arkansas-Monticello and at 6:30 p.m. in the event finale against Missouri Western.

Missouri S&T won the GLVC West championship in the spring season and later advanced to the championship game of the GLVC Tournament after a season in which it finished with a record of 14-7.  S&T returns three All-GLVC performers from that squad, led by first-team selection Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State), who finished third in the conference in kills per set with 3.51, second in points per set with 4.30 and second in service aces with 43.

Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) were GLVC second team selections a year ago with Burton, the GLVC's Freshman of the Year, averaging 3.30 kills and 3.79 points per set to rank sixth in the conference in both categories.  Merjil, meanwhile, ranked seventh in the GLVC with 8.39 assists per set.

The Miners also had two others that ranked in the top 10 individually last season, as Kiernan O'Bolye finished second in blocks with 1.18 per set and Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) eighth in service aces with 24.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:

Purdue Northwest – The Pride were 0-14 in their spring campaign in 2021 and has seven returners from that team back for the fall season, headed by Erica Brohm who had a team-high 97 kills and a .241 hittiner percentage as a freshman last season.  Brohm also had 36 blocks, the most of any returning player on the Pride roster.

Upper Iowa – The Peacocks did not play any matches in the 2020-21 season, but finished the 2019 season with a record of 21-9.  Upper Iowa, picked to finish ninth among the 16 teams in the powerful Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, has a number of new faces on its roster but does return Kaitlin Neidert, who accumulated 588 kills, 93 blocks and 138 digs over the course of her last two seasons of play.

Arkansas-Monticello – The Cotton Blossoms were picked to finish eighth in the Great American Conference this season after going 6-6 in the spring campaign and winning an opening round game in the GAC Tournament.  UAM brings back its top two players on the offensive side in Faith Wilemon (120 kills) and Mikaela Brown (102 kills), as well as Katelyn Richbourg, who finished the spring season with 280 digs.

Missouri Western – The Griffons posted an 8-11 record during the spring season and reached the quarterfinals of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament; Western was tabbed for a sixth place finish in the MIAA for the upcoming year.  Three All-MIAA players return to the Griffon roster, led by Ali Tauchen, a first-team selection two seasons ago when she recorded 371 kills.

SPECTATOR NOTES: For indoor athletic events at Missouri S&T, all fans and team personnel will be required to wear masks inside of Gibson Arena and to sit in their designated areas.  Fans from each of the visiting teams will be limited to four spectators per student-athlete and those individuals must be pre-registered with their teams prior to the event.