ROLLA, Mo. – With wins in its last three matches, Missouri S&T's volleyball team will begin a six-game stretch away from home Friday when it takes on Southwest Baptist in a 6 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference match in Bolivar, Mo.

The Miners will also play Drury Saturday at 3 p.m. in Springfield, Mo., then play a road game at Missouri-St. Louis on Oct. 8 and take part in the Midwest Regional Crossover event on Oct. 14 and 15 in Hammond, Ind., before their next home outing on Oct. 21 against Maryville.

S&T's season has been one of streaks thus far, as it opened with six straight wins, followed by four straight losses and now a three-game winning streak after it won a pair of home matches over the weekend.  Missouri S&T knocked off William Jewell in straight sets before taking down Rockhurst in four sets Saturday at Gibson Arena to move to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC.

The Miners hit .303 in the victory over William Jewell, then had a .195 hitting mark against Rockhurst and recorded 10 blocks on the defensive side.  Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) had 12 kills in each of the two matches and continues to lead S&T in that category with 3.18 per set, the eighth-best mark in the GLVC.

Mason's 140 kills leads the Miners, while Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) has recorded 129, Abigail Widiker (Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central) 119 and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) 115 on the season.  Ply has the second-best hitting percentage in the GLVC at .369 and is fifth in blocks as well with 1.07 per set.

Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) is one spot ahead of Ply in the blocks department with 1.14 per set – with a team-high 50 – and Lexi Netherlain (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) is 10^th in the GLVC with 17 service aces.
 
As a team, the Miners rank third in hitting percentage in the GLVC at .234 and have held opposing teams to a .153 mark, the fourth-best in the league.  S&T also ranks second in the conference with 2.5 blocks per set.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:  Southwest Baptist has been one of the most improved teams in the GLVC this season as the Bearcats enter play Friday at 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Bearcats have won six of their last seven matches, including a five-set win at Drury Saturday.

Ashley Lasher leads SBU with 111 kills on the year, while Rolla native Loran Pritchett has 104 on the year.  Aleena Peterson is the only Bearcat that ranks among the top 10 in any league statistical category, as she is ninth in digs with 219 or 4.29 per set.  SBU also ranks fourth in blocks in the GLVC with 2.19 per set, led by Ella Rademaker's 37.

Drury dropped to 7-9 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC after the loss Saturday to SBU and will look to snap a three-game losing streak Tuesday against Harding prior to S&T's visit on Saturday. 

Salma Lewis has 162 kills to lead the Panthers, while Kayli Duncan has 152 to go along with a team-high 63 blocks that is the seventh-highest mark in the GLVC.  Duncan's hitting percentage of .303 also ranks eighth in the conference, while Chloe Rear's 7.82 assists per set is the sixth-best average in the GLVC.