ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will step outside of Great Lakes Valley Conference play for a weekend on the volleyball court as it will play three matches at the Midwest Regional Crossover event at the Hammond SportsPlex in Hammond, Ind.

The Miners, who enter the event as the eighth seed from the GLVC as they are currently 2-4 in conference play (9-7 overall), will play once on Friday as it takes on Cedarville from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 11:30 a.m.  S&T will play at 11:30 a.m. as well on Saturday against another G-MAC squad in Ohio Dominican, then finishes its weekend of action with a 4:30 p.m. match against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Northern Michigan.

S&T comes into the crossover fresh off a straight-set win over William Jewell on Saturday, as the Miners recorded a .291 attack percentage in the victory.  Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) had a team-high 13 kills in the match and Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) added 11, a day after both had reached double figures in kills along with Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) in a five-set loss to nationally-ranked Rockhurst.

Mason leads the Miners with 213 kills on the season and ranks 10^th in the GLVC with an average of 3.3 per set, while Burton has 191 kills for the season and Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 146.  Ply has the team's top attack percentage at .326 and is second on the team with 59 blocks to Mason's 60.  Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) has added 36 blocks, with her average of 1.05 per set ranking fourth in the conference and Mason's 0.92 in 10^th.

S&T's leaders in digs are Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) with 196, Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) with 189 and Carrillo with 186, while Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) has a team-leading 368 assists and Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) has 319.  Carrillo leads the Miners with 24 service aces, which is just outside of the top 10 in the GLVC.

The crossover event has been held annually since 2008 – with the exception of the 2020 season – and the Miners have won 10 of their last 15 matches played at the event.  S&T was 2-1 at the Midwest Crossover a year ago, losing to Davenport in five sets before winning matches over Findlay and Wayne State (Mich.).  The Miners have faced all three of their weekend opponents in past crossover events.

ABOUT CEDARVILLE: The Yellowjackets are 9-8 on the season, but have dropped five of their last seven games which includes a five-set loss to Ohio Dominican, whom the Miners will face Saturday.  Madelyn Hensley leads Cedarville in kills with 209, while Janae Heegaard has a .287 attack percentage and a team-leading 61 blocks.  As a team, Cedarville ranks just outside the top 20 nationally with an average of 2.2 service aces per set.

The Miners faced Cedarville in the 2015 event and came away victorious in straight sets.

ABOUT OHIO DOMINICAN: The Panthers come into the event at 9-7 and have won five of their last six matches and four straight, a streak that began with their win over Cedarville.  Lauren Lucas has a team-leading 201 kills and Grace Zinchuk has 50 blocks to go along with an attack percentage of .256.  The Panthers have three players with at least 175 kills in Lucas, Jenna Peters and Ashley Aselage.

S&T has faced Ohio Dominican twice previously in the event, losing in 2009 and winning in 2017.

ABOUT NORTHERN MICHIGAN:  The Wildcats bring a 5-12 mark into the weekend, but have wins in three of their past five matches.  Meghan Meyer has a team-leading 143 kills and a .304 attack percentage, while McKenzie Gruner has 32 blocks on the season.  The Miners and Wildcats have faced off three times in past crossovers, with NMU winning two of the three.