ROLLA, Mo. – Coming off a thrilling five-set victory over Southern Indiana on Saturday, the Missouri S&T volleyball team is set to get kick off one of the busier portions of their Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule beginning this weekend. The Miners (7-2, 1-0) take to the road starting Friday with a trip to Kirksville to take on Truman State (2-7, 0-1) before stopping in the Gem City Saturday to take on Quincy before returning to Gibson Arena to host Drury on Tuesday.
 
S&T comes into this portion of the schedule after successfully defending their home court over the weekend against defending GLVC champion Southern Indiana. The Miners won the first two sets of the match 26-24 and 25-23 before the Screaming Eagles took sets three and four 25-19 and 25-20. S&T rebounded to take set five 15-9 and start off conference play on a high note.
 
Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) continues to lead the team with 141 kills while Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South), coming off a season-high 19 kill effort Saturday, is the only other Miner with over 100 kills, checking in with 130 entering the weekend. Gannaway also is tops on the squad with 18 service aces through nine matches.
 
The Miners' offense continues to run through the duo of Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) and Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium). The duo has combined for 363 assists, with 250 and 113 respectively in the early going in the season. Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) leads the team with 124 digs. Gannaway has 77 digs to her credit while Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) has recorded 70 digs. Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) continues to be tops on the team with 40 blocks, including nine solos, while Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) is just six behind with 34. Gannaway is the only other Miner with more than 20 blocks, with 25 to her credit.
 
The Bulldogs (2-7, 0-1) will be hosting S&T in their home opener and come into play on a six-match losing streak, most recently falling in straight sets to UIndy Saturday in their GLVC opener. The Bulldogs' two wins came over Lane and Florida Tech at the Union (Tenn.) Tournament to open the season. Morgan Smith leads the team with 86 kills while Ellie Kaat isn't far behind with 82. Rachel DeFries and Katy Motz have split time as the setters for the Bulldogs, with 161 and 111 respectively. The duo are also tops on the squad in service aces, with 14 and 13 each. Defensively, Molly McGurn has recorded 134 digs, while Morgan Smith is the only other play with more than 70, checking in with 90. Kaat's 17 blocks lead the Bulldogs, while Ainsley Heise and Allison Beaton both have 15.
 
The Hawks (3-7, 0-2) have dropped three straight coming into the weekend, falling to Lewis in Romeoville in straight sets Thursday before losing 3-1 at home against UMSL Saturday. William Jewell heads to Pepsi Arena for the first of two matches for Quincy this weekend. Two players have north of 100 kills this season, with Emily Rehagen leading the way with 116 and Mattie Norris close behind with 110. Six other Hawks have double-digit kill totals this season. Makayla Knoblauch has been the primary setter this year, dishing out 220 assists while Erica Slinde and Faithe Krabbe have also seen time and have 69 and 40 assists between them. Two players have better than 100 digs for QU in 2021, with America Galvan leading the way with 151 while Rehagen has 106. Norris is close the clearing 100 for the season, entering the weekend with 91. Sarah Brown is tops on the team with 28 blocks and is one of two players with more than 20 on the season, joined by Alyssa Grimm with 23.
 
The Panthers (7-3, 1-1) split their opening weekend of GLVC play, defeating Southwest Baptist in Bolivar 3-1 Thursday before falling in five sets to McKendree at home Saturday. The Panthers hosted Missouri Southern Tuesday and head to Lindenwood and Truman State before making the short drive up I-44 to Rolla. Drury has three players with better than 80 kills, led by Makina Wratten with 90 and joined by Taylor Forth and Juliana Squire with 88 and 84. Gabby Birmingham has run the offense from her setter spot, logging 263 assists while Kallie Fenscke has also seen action and has 98 assists. Emma Fox leads the way defensively with 160 digs while Squire has 105 to her name. Wratten also leads the team in blocks with 50, while Forth has 31 of her own.
 
Last season, the Miners fell to Truman State 3-1 at the tri-match hosted by Illinois Springfield and beat Quincy twice, once in the regular season against the then 23rd-ranked Hawks 3-1 and the tri-match hosted by UIndy before knocking off QU in straight sets in the GLVC Tournament. S&T split the season series with Drury in the spring, with the two teams posted 3-1 wins on their home courts.