ROLLA, MO  --  Missouri S&T will have three visiting men's volleyball teams in town this weekend for the 2025 Miner Volleyball Classic. The Miners' matches will be tomorrow at 4:30pm vs Rockhurst and Saturday at 5:30pm vs Roosevelt. Information on all other matches in the Classic can be found at the link at the top of this article.
 
About the Hawks
Rockhurst is 12-9 this season and are riding a five-match win streak. They have won 14 straight sets and have yet to lose one in the month of March. The Hawks defense has made life difficult for opposing hitters this year, holding them to a .204 hitting percentage, the 9th-lowest hitting percentage allowed in the nation.
 
Freshman opposite Lucas Tran leads the team in kills per set with 3.62, ranking him 22nd in the nation in that category. Tran is not the Hawks' lead in points though, that title goes to Shay Spadaro, a 6-4 outside from Orlando, who has recorded 243.5 points in 69 sets played.
 
About the Lakers
Roosevelt has had a difficult first season in NCAA Division II, having moved up from the NAIA to join the Intercollegiate Volleyball Association over last summer. They are 2-13 and have won 13 sets this year, with their two wins coming against NAIA schools Culver-Stockton and Trinity Christian.
 
Andrew Di Paola, a 6-5 senior from Italy, leads the Lakers in kills per set this season, averaging 2.90 with a total of 148. He has gotten plenty of opportunities to accrue those kills, averaging 8.45 attack attempts per sets which is 13th most in NCAA DI/DII.
 
About the Miners
The Miners are 8-10 this season and their 3-1 record vs IVA opponents has them fourth in the conference, with matches vs two conference opponents on the schedule for this weekend. They lost a close one against Quincy last week, falling 2-3 to the visiting Hawks on Thursday, March 13th.
 
Despite having a sub-par performance vs Quincy, Tyler Johnwick (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East) still maintains one of the best hitting percentages in the nation… ranking 5th with a .456 attacking percentage. S&T is 18th in DI/DII for digs per set, averaging 9.07 with Bartosz Chmielewski's (Aurora, IL/Metea Valley) 2.13 leading the team.
 
What's Next
The Miners host their final match of the season on Wednesday, welcoming #4 McKendree for a rematch.
 
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