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SWOSU (10-7) at Southwestern Christian (10-14) Thursday, Oct. 15, 7:00 pm SWOSU (10-7, 5-2 GAC) at Arkansas Tech (13-5, 7-0 GAC) Friday, Oct. 16, 7:00 pm Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU (10-7, 5-2 GAC) at Harding (10-10, 5-2 GAC) Saturday, Oct. 17, 2:00 pm Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Riding a three-game winning streak, the SWOSU Volleyball team is on the road for three matches this weekend, including a pair of crucial Great American Conference contests
- The Bulldogs open the weekend on Thursday evening against Southwestern Christian in Bethany in the first-ever meeting between the two programs
- From there, SWOSU heads on to Arkansas to face a pair of top-tier GAC foes in Arkansas Tech and Harding
- SWOSU will face the league-leading Golden Suns at 7:00 pm on Friday night before a quick turnaround on Saturday in Searcy to face Harding at 2:00 pm
 
The Opponents
Southwestern Christian (10-14)
- Have won three of their last five games to enter the weekend 10-14 overall, but they have not face an NCAA Division II opponent yet this season
- Led by senior outside hitter Tory Sharp, who averages better than four kills per set and is hitting .179 for the year with a total of 357 kills
 
Arkansas Tech (13-5, 7-0 GAC)
- Riding a seven-game winning streak that has improved their overall record to 13-5 and they sit atop the GAC standings with an unblemished 7-0 record
- Lead the GAC in kills with 875 (13.89/set) and assists with 812 (12.89/set) while also ranking second with a team hitting percentage of .210
- Reigning GAC Offensive Player of the Week Hunter Eshnaur ranks second in the league with 234 kills while Sarita Stegall is fourth in assists with 560 and Katie Huff is third with 57 blocks
 
Harding (10-10, 5-2 GAC)
- Winners of four straight matches to even their record at 10-10 for the year and tied with SWOSU for third in the standings at 5-2
- Fifth in the league with a .197 hitting percentage, while holding opponents to .172 hitting, the second-best mark in the conference
- Molly Howard leads the team with 251 kills while two other players (Zoe Hardin, Sara Smith) also have 175 or more
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (44-67, 4th season)
- Named second head volleyball coach in SWOSU history on January 1, 2012
- Has coached six All-GAC selections and one GAC Freshman of the Year in three seasons
- His teams have earned two AVCA Team Academic Awards and one GAC Sportsmanship Award
- Added the duties of Director of Gameday Operations at SWOSU in the fall of 2014.
 
SCU: Kristen Coventon (21-35, 2nd season)
- Second year head coach at Southwestern Christian, where she led the Eagles to an 11-21 mark in 2014
- Previously spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma City after a playing career at Central Oklahoma
 
ATU: Kristy Bayer (295-121, 13th season)
- All-time winningest coach at Arkansas Tech, now on the verge of 300 wins in 13 years at the school
- Three-time conference coach of the year, including in 2011 and 2014 in the GAC
 
HU: Meredith Fear (85-33, 4th season)
- Fourth-year coach of the Bisons led Harding to back-to-back conference championships in 2012 and 2013
- Two-time GAC Coach of the Year
 
Checking the Standings
- Conference victories last weekend helped SWOSU stay in a tie for third place in the standings at 5-2
- The Dawgs are tied with Southern Nazarene and Harding, Saturday's opponent
- Ahead of SWOSU are Friday night's opponent, Arkansas Tech, and Oklahoma Baptist, who is in second at 6-1
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU came from one set down to defeat Southern Arkansas on Friday, before a straight-set win over Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon for a weekend sweep
 
SWOSU Notes
- Kayla Hebert was named the GAC Setter of the Week on Tuesday for the second time this season
- Hebert is ranked second in the league in assists (584), second in service aces (27) and fifth in hitting percentage (.302)
- Kelsi Schmidtberger tied a season-high with 12 kills against Southern Arkansas and she is now second on the team with 118 kills and a .296 hitting percentage
- Carly Zak recorded her 900th career kill on Friday against SAU and she enters play this week with 929 career kills, third-most in SWOSU Volleyball history
- As a team, SWOSU has risen to fourth in the league with a hitting percentage of .198. The program record for single-season hitting percentage is .171 (2011)
- Kaila Lancaster leads SWOSU with 271 kills (4.52/set) for the year, but three other teammates: Carly Zak, Kayla Hebert, Lindsey McCauley, have more than 100 digs to their credit
- Addie Aman had her most complete game as a Bulldog against SAU, finishing with five kills, four digs, three blocks and one service ace
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU Volleyball finishes the month of October with six consecutive home matches
- The Bulldogs host Langston next Tuesday with weekend games against Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State & Panhandle State