Setting the Scene
With the non-conference portion of the slate nearly completed, the SWOSU volleyball team will turn their attention to the Great American Conference for the next two weeks. The Lady Bulldogs start a four-game conference road trip on Tuesday with a trip to East Central in Ada.
Previous Meetings
East Central swept the season series against SWOSU in 2012, defeating the Lady Bulldogs 3-2 in Weatherford on September 18 and 3-1 in Ada on October 30. In total, the Tigers own a 5-2 series advantage over SWOSU dating back to 2008, the year ECU reinstated their volleyball program. The Bulldogs last win over ECU came on October 18, 2011 at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse. SWOSU is winless (0-3) against ECU on the road.
The Coaches
Josh Collins is in his second season as the head volleyball coach at SWOSU after serving as an assistant the previous seven seasons. His first team finished 13-20 overall but rallied for a 10-4 conference record, finishing fourth in the Great American Conference. He is currently 17-28 as the Lady Bulldogs head man but 11-4 in GAC contests, with two of those losses coming against East Central.
Dave Thorn is the only head coach in the ECU volleyball program's history, in his sixth season after guiding the Lady Tigers to a record of 54-111 in the first five seasons. Prior to his arrival at ECU, Thorn was the head volleyball coach at Texas-Pan American from 1998-2006. In 2012, ECU went 10-23, with a 7-7 Great American Conference finish. Senior Tatiana Booth led the team throughout the season and earned All-GAC First Team honors for her efforts.
Last Time Out
The opportunity to face two old Lone Star Conference foes did not turn out as planned for the SWOSU volleyball team on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost a pair of three-set matchups, falling to Texas A&M-Kingsville (16-25, 16-25, 16-25) and No. 15-ranked West Texas A&M (20-25, 14-25, 14-25).
The Foe
East Central will be playing their first conference match of the year on Tuesday night when they host the Lady Bulldogs. ECU is 3-6 so far this season in non-conference action with wins against Mid-America Christian, St. Gregory's and Oklahoma City in three of their last four matches.
Losses for the Tigers have come against Hawaii Hilo (twice), Central Oklahoma, Maryville, Cameron and Wayland Baptist. The lone common opponent for the two teams is Oklahoma City, who SWOSU defeated in three sets at home and ECU dropped in five sets on the road.
Leaders for the Tigers include Danielle Essix with 89 kills, Taylor Brown with 96 digs, Hayley Gerken and Sarah Nelson each with 35 blocks and Jessica Wilkinson with 200 assists for the year.
Return to Sender
One major strength of the SWOSU volleyball team in 2013 has been at the net. The Bulldogs' defense ranks second in the Great American Conference in blocks with 160, an average of 2.02 per set. That number, which includes 18 solo blocks and 142 assist blocks, ranks SWOSU just behind Southern Nazarene (2.05/set) for the conference lead.
Alison Cole is the conference leader with 52 total (10 solo, 42 assist) blocks for an average of 1.18 per set while
Kiley Brennfoerder ranks sixth in the GAC with 30 blocks (five solo, 25 assist), an average of .81 per set.
Making those numbers more impressive is the fact that SWOSU has never averaged higher than 1.78 blocks per set in a single season. Additionally, no individual player has ever averaged above 1.0 blocks per set in SWOSU volleyball history.
Whole New Ballgame
A tough non-conference slate has taken its toll on SWOSU, the preseason No. 3 team in the Great American Conference, early in the 2013 season. With conference play now on tap, the Bulldogs look to live up to those early expectations.
In two-plus seasons as a member of the GAC, SWOSU has a record of 16-15 in conference matches, including a 1-0 record so far this season. Prior to last year's 10-win conference season, the Bulldogs had not won more than five conference matches in any single season.
Overall, SWOSU volleyball is 33-73 in conference matches since the inception of the program in 2005.
Freshman Standout
After missing the first set in Thursday's GAC opener against Northwestern Oklahoma State, outside hitter
Carly Zak sparked the Bulldogs with 14 kills in the final three sets, each won by SWOSU. Thus far in her freshman season, Zak has put down 109 kills (2.95/set) to rank second on the team. She has reacehd double figures in kills seven times, with a career-high 16 against CSU-Pueblo, including all four of SWOSU's victories.
Looking Ahead
The four-game road swing has a complete week off before SWOSU returns to action at Southern Nazarene on October 1. Then the Bulldogs trip to Arkansas to play SAU and UAM.
