ROLLA, Mo. – With its spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament now assured, Missouri S&T's volleyball team can set its sights on securing a favorable seed and keeping itself in contention for a berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament as it goes into the final weekend of the regular season.

The Miners will be on the road for their final two games, taking on Upper Iowa Friday at 6 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa and Truman State on Saturday, also at 6 p.m., in Kirksville, Mo., to close the schedule.

S&T comes into play this week tied with Indianapolis and Maryville for fifth place with a 6-5 GLVC record – the Miners have won four straight and are 15-9 overall – but wins in both games this weekend will give it the fifth seed in the tournament that begins Nov. 17 in East Peoria, Ill.  In addition, S&T is 10th in this week's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings.

The Miners locked up their playoff spot by rallying from a 2-1 deficit to beat Maryville Saturday in St. Louis.  After losing 32-30 in the third set, the Miners won 25-21 in the fourth set and came back from a 9-6 deficit in set five to win 15-13 to take the match. Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) led the Miners with 21 kills in the victory, while Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) recorded 14 kills and nine blocks and Jordan Burton (Olathe, KS/Olathe South) finished with 13 kills.

Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) continues to lead the Miners in kills with 308 on the season and owns an attack percentage of .249 and is also second on the team to Ply with leading S&T with 79 blocks.  Burton has 295 kills on the season and Ply, who has 86 blocks, has 227 kills and a .335 attack percentage that ranks ninth in the GLVC.

The Miners rank second in the GLVC in blocks with 2.18 per set and have one of the league leaders in blocks per set individually in Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher), who has 55 blocks in 57 sets.  S&T also has another player among the league leaders in Carrillo, who is 10^th in service aces with 38.

Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) leads S&T with 357 digs, while Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) has 536 set assists on the season and Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) has recorded 493.

ABOUT UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks enter the weekend needing a win or losses by a quartet of teams currently sitting at 3-8 in the conference standings to earn a berth to the GLVC Tournament in its first year in the league.  Upper Iowa is 10-15 overall and has dropped four of its last five outings.  Zoe Semelroth leads the Peacocks with 303 kills on the season and is hitting .289, while also recording a team-leading 38 service aces.

The Miners defeated the Peacocks in straight sets when the teams met in a non-conference game in September in Rolla.

ABOUT TRUMAN STATE: The Bulldogs will be closing out the 2023 campaign Saturday as they come into the weekend at 12-14 overall and 2-9 in the GLVC.  Truman, who is led in kills by Allison Beaton with 238 and Hanna Berry with 228, has lost its last six contests.  Dani Kurth leads the Bulldogs with 89 kills and Berry has recorded 74 on the year.