ROLLA, Mo. – For the third time in program history, Missouri S&T's women's volleyball team will compete at an NCAA Division II regional tournament as the Miners will take part in the Midwest Regional this weekend at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Miners will open play in the event Thursday with a matchup against the host school, fourth-ranked Missouri-St. Louis, as it will seek to avenge a pair of losses to the Tritons late in the season and advance in the national tournament for the first time ever.

S&T heads into Thursday's 5 p.m. match as winners of eight of its last 10 games, with both losses coming at the hands of UMSL during the final month of the season.  The Tritons (30-1) beat S&T in four sets in both contests, doing so at UMSL on Oct. 20 and in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Nov. 18.

Missouri S&T had two players earn second team All-GLVC honors during the season and both rank high on the team's statistical charts heading into the weekend.  Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) leads a balanced attack up front with 352 kills on the season and is hitting .240 on the season, while ranking second to fellow all-conference selection Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) in blocks with 89.

Ply has accumulated 104 blocks on the season and is hitting .350 on the season with 268 kills.  S&T has two others with more than 200 kills in Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South), who has 339 on the year and Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty), who has 230 and also ranks among the conference leaders with 45 service aces.

In addition, Alessio is second to Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) with 321 digs on the season – Alessio has 440 and Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) has 286 – while Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) has recorded 638 assists and Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) has 554 from the setter position.

If the Miners defeat UMSL Thursday, they will face the winner of the Quincy-Grand Valley State game Friday at 5 p.m., with the championship game scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.  Lewis, Rockhurst, Ferris State and Hillsdale are the teams on the opposite side of the bracket from the Miners.

ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: The Tritons – the defending regional champions -- saw their 30-game winning streak come to a halt one day after beating the Miners in the GLVC semifinals when they lost to Lewis in straight sets.  UMSL's squad includes five players who earned All-GLVC honors during the season, including the conference's Player of the Year in setter Caitlin Bishop.

Bishop recorded a GLVC-high 1,309 assists during the season for a team that has the league's top attack percentage at .290 entering Thursday's match.  The biggest beneficiaries of Bishop's work have been Lexie Rang, who has 421 kills and Delaney Humm, who has posted 413 kills, while Mya Elliott has 242 kills and a .373 attack percentage.  All three were all-conference selections with Rang and Humm on the first team.

Elliott, a second-team All-GLVC selection, is also second on the team in blocks with 67 to Hannah Copeland's 68.  Kylie Adams, who is fourth in the GLVC in digs with 484, was the fifth Triton to earn all-conference status.