ROLLA, Mo. – Coming off the heels of a big win in a rivalry match over Drury Tuesday night, the Missouri S&T volleyball team is set to return to the court at Gibson Arena this weekend to play host to Southwest Baptist Friday night in a match scheduled for 6 P.M. before lining up opposite William Jewell Saturday. S&T also has another midweek match to begin the first week of October, heading to Missouri-St. Louis Tuesday for a 7 P.M. affair.
 
The Miners (9-3, 3-1) enter the weekend coming off a 3-1 win over rival Drury Tuesday night and will look to carry their strong start into the month of October. Payton Gannaway (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence Free State) comes into play off her fourth double-double of the season with 17 kills and 14 digs effort and tied a season-high six service aces. Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) has logged double-figure kills in all but one match this season and enters play with 162 kills. Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) has seen more time as the primary setter in recent matches, and now has 344 assists on the season while Katarina Seres (Belgrade, Serbia/Ninth Gymnasium) is also over 100 with 121. In the service game, Gannaway leads with team with 28 aces.
 
Defensively, a trio of Miners are over 100 digs for the season, led by Meiko Pearson's (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) 165 and joined by Gannaway (104) and Avery Reed (Ste. Genevieve, MO/Ste. Genevieve) (101), while Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) is just four shy of the century mark at 96. Kiernan O'Boyle (Kansas City, MO/St. Teresa's Academy) continues to lead the defensive effort at the net, leading the club with 52 blocks, including 11 solo blocks, while Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 44 blocks. As a unit, S&T has tallied 114 blocks through 12 matches.
 
The Bearcats (6-7, 2-3) are riding high after picking up their second GLVC win of the season Tuesday night, knocking off William Jewell in straight sets. SBU has already seen the highs and lows of their season, starting off 4-0 before dropping their next six matches before finding their footing in the second week of conference action. Two Bearcats are north of 100 kills for the season, with Rachel Francis leading the team with 138 and Ashley Lasher checking in with 128. Loran Pritchett is the team's leading setter, and is just shy of 400 assists for the season with 394. Pritchett also leads the Bearcats in service aces with 16 and is one of four players with at least 12 aces for the season.
 
Aleena Peterson headlines a trio of Bearcats with 100 or more digs, leading the way with 160 with Paityn Kramer and Pritchett have 127 and 109 to their credit. Sydney Ernsbarger leads the way up front defensively with 42 total blocks and is tied for the team lead in solo blocks at 10 with Francis, who has 35 total blocks to her credit.
 
The Cardinals (4-9, 0-5) are still looking to find their first conference win of the season and have had a tough go of things in GLVC action, winning just one set over then 15th-ranked Lewis on September 18 in five matchups with GLVC foes. Before heading to Rolla, the Cardinals will make a stop in Joplin Friday night to take on Missouri Southern in a non-conference bout. WJC doesn't have a player north of 100 kills for the season, but does have five players with at least 60 kills as part of a balanced attack, led by Lily Johnson with 99. Bella LaPorte (83), Katy Garrison (71), Anna Godfredsen (64) and Chloe Robison (63) make of the remainder of the Cardinals' primary offensive contributors. Samantha Thompson is the team's leader in assists with 204 while Hannah Cope is also in triple digits with 147. When it comes to service aces, Robison leads the team with an even dozen.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Jordan Collard leads William Jewell with 167 digs while Johnson is tops on the club with 40 blocks, including 10 solo blocks. Five other Cardinals have better than 20 blocks this season and as a team, WJC has posted 91 rejections at the net.
 
The Tritons (9-3, 4-0) are riding a six-match winning streak coming into the first weekend of October and will be on the road Friday against McKendree Friday night before making a trip to Evansville to square off against Southern Indiana on Saturday, after which they will return home to face Missouri S&T Tuesday at the Mark Twain Building. Charlotte Richards has been the primary scorer for the Tritons, leading the team with 219 kills as the only player to reach triple digits this season. Kaileen Herman has been the facilitator for much of UMSL's offense, dishing out 417 assists while Lexie Rang leads the team with 18 service aces.
 
Defensively, a trio of Tritons have tallied more than 100 digs, led by Megan Woll's 250 and joined by Herman and Richards with 142 and 137. Mya Elliott leads the team with 28 blocks and is one of three players with 20 or more this season, along with Karli Dean (25) and Olivia Klank (23).
 
Last season, the Miners posted a perfect record against SBU, William Jewell and UMSL, sweeping the season series with both the Bearcats and Cardinals before taking the lone match of the season against the Tritons. In those five matches, S&T won four in straight sets, the exception being a 3-2 win over WJC at home on February 5.