ROLLA, Mo. – An undefeated team awaits Missouri S&T's volleyball team as it opens its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this weekend, with the Miners playing their home match of the season at Gibson Arena Thursday night before they head back to the road two days later.

Missouri S&T will take on a 10-0 Quincy team to open its conference schedule Thursday at Gibson Arena before heading to Truman State Saturday to face the Bulldogs at 3 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.  Thursday's home game will be S&T White Out Night and fans are encouraged to wear white and sunglasses to the game.

The Miners come into Thursday's match looking to snap a three-game losing streak that came on the heels of a season-opening six-game string of wins.  S&T lost its only match last week in four sets to GLVC foe Illinois Springfield in a non-conference game, as the Miners were unable to overcome a two-set deficit in the match.

Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) and Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) each had a season-high 16 kills in the match on Friday and they rank one-two on the Miner squad in kills for the season.  Mason has a team-high 95 kills as her 3.2 kills per set rank eighth in the conference, while Burton has 91 kills and is tied for ninth in that category.

Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), whose hitting percentage of .347 is good for fifth in the GLVC, is also among the league leaders in blocks with 1.2 per set.  Ply had a hand in seven blocks in the game at UIS, is tied for second in that department along with Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher), who had five assisted blocks in that contest.

As a team, the Miners rank third in hitting percentage in the GLVC at .233 and held opposing teams to a .161 mark.  Following a match where it recorded 13 blocks, S&T leads the conference with 2.6 blocks per set and have averaged just short of 13 kills per set.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:  Quincy won matches over the weekend over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Arkansas Tech to remain undefeated on the season at 10-0 heading into Thursday's contest.  The Hawks, who eliminated S&T from the GLVC Tournament in the quarterfinal round, received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings but still sit outside the top 25.

The Hawks own the top hitting percentage in the GLVC at .296 and have held their opponents to a .087 mark on the opposite side. Alice Pavan is atop the conference in hitting percentage with a .485 mark and has made just eight attack errors in 132 chances. Pavan also ranks seventh in blocks per set at 1.03, while America Galvan ranks second in digs with 4.6 per set.  Makayla Knoblauch is second in the conference with an average of 10.2 assists per set.

Truman State, meanwhile, is seeking its first victory of the 2022 campaign; the Bulldogs host Drury on Friday before the Miners' visit the following afternoon.  The Bulldogs have been beaten in straight sets in five of their eight matches, but two of their contests have reached a fifth set this year as well.

Truman has two players that rank among the top 10 in the GLVC statistical categories heading into the weekend, with Jessica Proszenyak ranking second in service aces with 14 on the season and Lexi Arnel ranking seventh in digs with 4.1 per set.