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Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-19, 3-8 GAC) at SWOSU (16-8, 8-3 GAC) Thursday, October 29, 7:00 pm Southwestern Christian (12-19) at SWOSU (16-8) Friday, October 30, 7:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball carries a five-game winning streak into a pair of home matches late this week at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- The Bulldogs face Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday, looking to avenge an earlier defeat against the Savage Storm in Durant, before looking to finish off a home-and-home sweep of Southwestern Christian on Friday evening
- The Bulldogs have won nine of their last ten matches to improve to 16-8 on the year, setting a new single-season school record for wins while also clinching the first winning season in program history
- With their two league wins last weekend, the Bulldogs clinched their spot in the GAC Tournament, which will be held November 19-21 in Hot Springs, Arkansas
 
The Opponents
Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-19, 3-8 GAC)
- Snapped an eight-game losing streak on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Arkansas-Monticello in Durant, their third Great American Conference victory of the season
- Previously defeated the Bulldogs 3-1 in Durant on September 29
- Ranked sixth in the league in hitting percentage (.181) while opponents are hitting .231 against the Savage Storm
- Top offensive threats are Abby Jameson, who leads the team with 290 kills, and Julia Benford, who has added 219 kills this season
- Setter Alissa Benson is ranked sixth in the GAC with 771 assists (9.18/set) for the year
 
Southwestern Christian (12-19)
- Enter the week with a 12-19 overall record with three matches remaining in the regular season
- SWOSU defeated the Eagles in straight sets on October 15 in Bethany
- Tory Sharp leads the team with 463 kills (4.08/set) while four other players have put down more than 150 kills so far this season
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (50-68, 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.
 
SE: Brianna Barry (23-33, 2nd season)
- Led SE to an 18-14 overall mark and third-place finish in the GAC in her first season
- Was a four-year starter at Florida State before a three-year professional playing career overseas
 
SCU: Kristen Coventon (23-40, 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
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU is currently tied with Southern Nazarene for third place in the GAC standings at 8-3
- Both teams, along with Arkansas Tech, have already clinched their spot in the GAC Tournament
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU won all four of their games at home last week, sweeping Langston and Panhandle State in non-conference action with league wins against Ouachita Baptist (3-2) and Henderson State (3-0)
 
SWOSU Notes
- Junior outside hitter Carly Zak was named the GAC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for the second time this season
- Zak recorded the 1,000th kill of her career on Friday against Ouachita Baptist and she now needs just 15 kills to break the all-time school record of 1,036, held by Kasandra Gurtner (2005-07)
- Jill Green had two of her top offensive performances during Saturday's triangular, putting down a career-high 15 kills against Henderson State with 14 and zero hitting errors against Panhandle State
- Kayla Hebert surpassed the 800-assist mark last week and she currently has 803 assists (9.91/set) for the year, a mark that ranks fourth in the GAC
- A two-time GAC Setter of the Week, Hebert is on for the second-best assists per set mark in SWOSU Volleyball history
- Kelsi Schmidtberger set a new career-high with 15 kills against and tied her season-best with eight blocks against Ouachita Baptist
- Schmidtberger ranks for the Bulldogs with 62 blocks and she's hitting a team-best .321 with 172 kills, second-most on the team
- Kaila Lancaster continues to extend her lead in career digs at SWOSU, entering the week with 1,641, a mark that ranks among the top 25 in active players in NCAA Division II
- Paige Holt leads the Bulldogs with 64 blocks (11 solo, 53 assist) and she's ranked third with 149 kills while hitting .197 for the year
- SWOSU leads the GAC in service aces with 155 (1.8/set) for the year. Kayla Hebert leads SWOSU with 36 aces, which is approaching the single-season school record of 43, held by Tiffany Shedrock (2006)
- Ariana Olson set a new career-high with 24 digs against Ouachita Baptist, giving her 89 for the year as she's approaching 400-dig plateau for her career
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU Volleyball finishes the season with three of their final four matches away from home
- The Bulldogs go on the road to in-state foes OBU, SNU and NWOSU while hosting East Central next Thursday for Senior Night