ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's volleyball team will close out its home and Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Saturday afternoon looking to improve its standing in the NCAA Division II Midwest region as it plays host to Illinois Springfield in a 3 p.m. contest at Gibson Arena.

The Miners clinched their berth to the GLVC Tournament last week with a win at Indianapolis and closed the weekend with records of 15-8 overall and 7-4 in the GLVC.  S&T will have its final seeding for the tournament determined after play is completed around the league Saturday, but it will play its first round contest on Thursday, Nov. 10 in East Peoria, Ill.

Not only is S&T getting prepared for the GLVC Tournament, it also has its eyes on a potential NCAA Division II regional spot as the Miners are currently ranked 10th in the Midwest region.  The top eight teams will earn a spot in the regional tournament, meaning S&T still has work to do in the next two weeks to have a chance to make the field.

S&T's front line trio of Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) and Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) posted big numbers during the two games last weekend, with Ply earning the GLVC's Offensive Player of the Week award for her showing as she recorded a .634 hitting percentage in the two games with 28 kills and just two attack errors.  Ply, who has 199 kills on the season, ranks second in the GLVC in hitting percentage at .379 and is also tied for second in the league in blocks with 99, or 1.15 per set.

Mason leads the Miners with 272 kills on the year and her 3.19 per set ranks 10^th in the conference, while Burton has 270 kills after she also recorded 28 kills in those games; she is hitting .226 on the year for a team that ranks fourth in the GLVC with a hitting mark of .225.

Missouri S&T has one additional player ranked in the top 10 in a statistical category in the GLVC, as Madison Offerman is fifth in blocks with 89, or 1.09 per set.  Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial) leads S&T with 534 assists, while Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) has a team-high 341 digs and 27 service aces.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT:  Illinois Springfield comes into the final weekend of action looking to secure its spot in the GLVC Tournament, as the Prairie Stars are currently tied with Indianapolis for sixth place in the standings at 5-6.  A UIS win on Saturday or a loss by either Maryville or Drury would put the Prairie Stars – who are 12-11 overall -- into the tournament.

Angela Denney leads UIS with 322 kills on the season, with her average of 4.18 per set ranking at the top of the GLVC.  Macarena Flores ranks fourth in hitting percentage at .322, while Regan Trueblood is fifth in assists with 9.17 per set; she has 715 assists on the year.  Trueblood and Erica Snopko are also among the top four in the GLVC in service aces for a team that ranks second in the conference in that category.  UIS is also first in the GLVC with 17.9 digs per set.

The Prairie Stars beat the Miners 3-1 in a non-conference match in September in Springfield, as Denney and Zanea Spencer had 17 kills apiece.  S&T was led in that match by Mason and Burton with 16 kills each, while Netherlain recorded 20 digs.  The Miners hit just .190 in that earlier matchup.