ROLLA, Mo. – Making its fourth straight appearance in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, Missouri S&T seeks its first title and a chance to earn a berth to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional when it opens play in the event Thursday afternoon in East Peoria, Ill.

The Miners enter the event as the fifth seed and will take on fourth-seeded Lewis in their opening round game at 2:30 p.m. at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria.  S&T dropped a four-set decision to the Flyers late in the regular season, but rebounded with a straight set win over Illinois Springfield to close out the regular season at 16-8 overall and 8-4 in the GLVC.

S&T recorded its best hitting percentage of the season in Saturday's win as it posted a .365 attack mark.  The Miners got 14 kills from Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) and 13 from Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South), while Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) had seven kills apiece.

That quartet of players all have over 200 kills apiece on the season, with Burton leading the way with 283.  Mason has recorded 279 kills, while Widiker has 233 kills and Ply has posted 206.  Ply ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage at .376 and also sits second in the conference in blocks with 1.15 per set on 87 kills.

The Miners also have one additional player among the league leaders in setter Hannah Merjil (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial), who is ninth in the GLVC in assists with 6.3 per set.  As a team, S&T ranks third in the GLVC in hitting with a .228 mark on the season and is also second to their opponent on Thursday in blocks with 2.43 per set.

Missouri S&T enters the week ranked 10^th in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest regional rankings, with a new set of rankings slated to be released Wednesday afternoon.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Lewis finished the GLVC slate tied with the Miners for fourth place at 8-4 and earned the higher seed based on the win in Romeoville, Ill., on Oct. 29. The Flyers bring a 19-8 overall record into Thursday's match as they seek to defend their championship.

The Flyers, ranked third in the Midwest region, have one of the top front line players in the conference in Bella Ray, who has a team-high 307 kills and leads the league in blocks per set with 1.39 (total of 132) and has also recorded a team-high 269 kills.  Lauren Stenman ranks third in the conference in assists with 9.8 per set, while Farah Taki has 93 blocks as well.  Andrea Zeiser is also second in the conference in digs with 5.11 per set.