ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's volleyball team, which has moved into the top eight in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings, will look to solidify its place in the conference playoff race when it plays its final two home games of the 2023 season over Homecoming weekend on campus.

The Miners, 12-9 overall and 3-5 in the GLVC and current occupant of the eighth place spot in the standings, will host Indianapolis Friday in a 6 p.m. match at Gibson Arena, then face off with 13^th-ranked Lewis Saturday at 3 p.m.

S&T took fourth-ranked Missouri-St. Louis to four sets on Friday – winning set two and leading late in set three before falling in that match – then rebounded Saturday with a straight-set win over McKendree to move into the top eight in the standings.  Saturday's game saw S&T hit .246 in the match and hold the Bearcats to a .142 mark, including a .085 mark over the final two sets.

Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) had 17 kills in the game at UMSL and followed that with a 15-kill outing Saturday in the win to give her 258 on the season, second to Madelyn Mason's (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) 273.  Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla), who has 193 kills for the year, is hitting .336 for the season which is the ninth-best mark in the conference.

Ply has also recorded 72 blocks that is second to Mason's 75, while Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) is fifth in the league with an average of a block per set to lead a squad that continues to lead the GLVC with 2.19 per set.  Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) has 460 assists and Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) has 422, while Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) has a team-leading 287 digs.

Prior to Saturday's game, Missouri S&T's seniors will be honored as the Miners will be playing their final home game of the 2023 season.

ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS: UIndy comes into Friday's game a game in front of S&T in the conference standings at 4-3 and are 15-7 overall.  The Greyhounds, who are 3-5 since a season-best eight-game winning streak, are led on the offensive side by Sophia Parlanti with 254 kills, while Hannah Sabotin has a team-leading 53 blocks and Elizabeth Eads has 49.  The Greyhounds are third in the GLVC in attack percentage at .254 on the season, with Sabotin's .459 mark leading the conference.

ABOUT LEWIS: The Flyers, 17-5 overall and 6-1 in the GLVC, have won nine of their last 10 matches coming into their game Friday at Maryville with the only loss coming in five sets to Missouri-St. Louis.  Lewis as a team is near the top of the GLVC in several statistical categories and is led by Juliana Van Loo, who is fourth in the conference in attack percentage at .371 with 271 kills on the season, while Bella Ray is fourth in blocks with 53 and has a .349 hitting mark.  Megan Schlechte leads the Flyers with 295 kills.