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Northwestern Oklahoma State (10-5, 4-2 GAC) at SWOSU (5-9, 3-4 GAC) Tuesday, October 7, 7:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) SWOSU Weekly Notes Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- Only one match on tap for Bulldog volleyball this week, but it's rivalry action as the SWOSU hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday night in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- SWOSU enters the match with three consecutive defeats after being swept by Southern Arkansas (3-1) and Arkansas-Monticello (3-2) over the weekend
- The Bulldogs are 5-9 on the year, including a 3-4 record in GAC matches and a 2-2 record at home
- SWOSU will play nine of their ten matches during the month of October at home and they are debuting new pink jerseys all month in support of breast cancer
- The team is also sporting teal headbands throughout the month in support of ovarian cancer
- Visit the volleyball page on swosuathletics.com for more information about making a donation to the Bulldogs campaign for the Sideout Foundation and Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
 
The Opponents
Northwestern Oklahoma State
- Enter the week with a 10-5 record, including a 4-2 mark in conference play
- Had a four-match winning streak snapped by Southern Arkansas on Saturday in four sets
- Third-year program that has already exceeded their win total from the previous two years combined this season
- Strong defensive team, holding opponents to a .129 hitting percentage (2nd in GAC) while also averaging 1.95 blocks per set (3rd in GAC)
- Led by sophomore OH Asia Pipkin and junior OH Ashanti Banks, who are each averaging more than 3.0 kills per set
- Junior DS Alina Fierro leads the GAC with 29 service aces on the year
- Nine players listed on their roster are from California
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (31-50, 3rd season)
- Named second head volleyball coach in SWOSU history on January 1, 2012
- Enters his third season with a 26-41 record with back-to-back 13-win seasons
- Has coached five All-GAC selections and one GAC Freshman of the Year
- SWOSU has finished fourth in the GAC in each of his seasons
 
Northwestern Oklahoma State: Gene Krieger (14-31, 2nd season)
- Came to Northwestern Oklahoma State prior to last season after coaching in the high school ranks in California since 2000
- Previously coached at California Baptist, Cal Poly Pomona and Western Oregon
- Has already doubled the Rangers win total in his second season
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU was defeated twice at home last weekend, falling to Southern Arkansas 3-1 on Friday and Arkansas-Monticello 3-2 on Saturday
- SAU controlled the first two sets against SWOSU before the Dawgs won the third set 25-20
- The Muleriders responded by winning the fourth set 25-20 to end the match
- Carly Zak led SWOSU with 13 kills while Joey Collins added nine
- Brandy Mader had a double-double with 30 assists and 11 digs
- UAM rallied from behind to defeat the Bulldogs in five sets on Saturday
- Brandy Mader led SWOSU with a triple double of 15 kills, 19 assists and 16 digs
- Alyssa Olson dished out a career-best 29 assists and 12 digs
- Collins added 14 kills and Zak had 13
 
Checking the Standings
- A three-match losing skid has dropped the Bulldogs into a tie for eighth in the Great American Conference standings
- The Bulldogs are tied with Arkansas-Monticello, the team that defeated them on Saturday
- Northwestern Oklahoma State enters the week tied with Harding for third in the standings
- Just two games separate the third-through-ninth places in the standings
- Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene are the only two teams remaining that have suffered just one conference loss
- 2014 will be the first year that the GAC Volleyball champion is not undefeated in conference play
 
SWOSU Notes
- Brandy Mader recorded the 18th triple-double in SWOSU Volleyball history, and the first since Lindsay Dusin in 2012, on Saturday against Arkansas-Monticello
- Mader finished with a career-high 15 kills, 19 assists and 16 digs in the match, becoming the first player other than Joey Collins and Carly Zak to lead the Bulldogs in kill during a match this season
- Kaila Lancaster has moved into third place in career digs at SWOSU with 39 in two matches last week. Lancaster has 1,053 career digs, needing 80 to move past Sladjana Smiljanic (1,132, 2010-11) for second place
- Lancaster currently ranks fourth in the GAC in digs with 248 (4.68/set). Her current average would rank her third in a single-season at SWOSU
- Carly Zak ranks ninth in the GAC in kills with 159 (3.00 per set), giving her 555 for her career. Zak has already moved into SWOSU's top ten list for career kills, ranking ninth
- Joey Collins is continuing towards the top of a pair of SWOSU all-time lists, currently ranking second in both kills and attack attempts. Collins has put down 829 kills in 2,769 attempts, ranking behind only Kasandra Gurtner (1,036 kills, 2,876 attempts) in both categories.
- Kiley Brennfoerder added nine more blocks to her total last week, giving her 52 (11 solo, 41 assist) for the year. She ranks fourth in the GAC with an average of 1.0 blocks per set
- For her career, Brennfoerder now has a total of 222 (47 solo, 175 assist) for her credit, needing 15 more to surpass former teammate Alison Cole (236, 2012-13) for second place on the list
- Shayne Haley has put down six or more kills in eight consecutive matches and she ranks third on the team with 96 (1.81 per set) for the year
- Alyssa Olson had a career-best 29 assists and 12 digs against UAM, more than doubling her season total for assists coming into the match
- Olson became the fifth SWOSU player to record a double-double this season, joining Collins, Haley, Mader and Zak
- Taylor VanderWerff ranks second on the team with 33 blocks and fifth in kills with 53
- Kenya Williams ranks 10th in the GAC with 17 service aces and she has moved into a tie for seventh on SWOSU's career list in the category with 58. With two more aces, she can move past Callie Martin (59, 2010-11) and into sixth in the category
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU has a week off before returning to action with home matches against Southeastern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech next week
- The Bulldogs will be looking for the season sweep of the Savage Storm and be hosting Arkansas Tech for their only meeting of the regular season