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Southern Arkansas (10-8, 3-2 GAC) at SWOSU (8-7, 3-2 GAC) Friday, October 9, 6:00 pm Arkansas-Monticello (7-8, 1-4 GAC) at SWOSU (8-7, 3-2 GAC) Saturday, October 10, 12:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball gets to celebrate Homecoming 2015 at home with a pair of Great American Conference matches at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center this weekend
- The Bulldogs host Southern Arkansas on Friday evening at 6:00 pm before a noon first serve on Saturday as SWOSU welcomes Arkansas-Monticello to town
- SWOSU hosted SAU and UAM on the same weekend last season as well, with the Muleriders defeating the Bulldogs in four sets and the Blossoms winning at SWOSU in five
- After a straight-set win at Langston on Monday, the Bulldogs have won two of their last three matches to improve to 8-7 on the year, the best 15-game record in SWOSU Volleyball history
- The Bulldogs are currently in a five-way tie for third place in the GAC standings at 3-2, with Southern Arkansas one of the other teams boasting that record
 
The Opponents
Southern Arkansas (10-8, 3-2 GAC)
- Enter the weekend with a lot of momentum, having won six of their past seven matches, including three straight GAC matches
- One of four teams tied with SWOSU for third in the standings at 3-2 in league play after victories over Henderson State, Arkansas-Monticello and Harding
- Have had four a league-leading players earn GAC Player of the Week honors, including a clean sweep of the awards this past week
- Led in hitting by Serena LeDuff, who averages 3.59 kills per set, and Shelby Lauterback, who is averaging 2.69 kills per set
- Setter Taylor Reaume is ranked second in the league with 665 assists (10.23/set) on the year
 
Arkansas-Monticello (7-8, 1-4 GAC)
- Defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday to snap a five-match losing skid and get within one game of .500 for the year
- Dropped their last three GAC matches, but took conference-leader Arkansas Tech to four sets
- Ranked 10th in the GAC in hitting percentage (.154) and eighth in opponent hitting percentage (.196)
- Carolina Gasparini (125) ad Sydni Shulz (110) are the team's leaders in kills while Kya Standford has a team-best 32 blocks
- Alissya Theis has a team-best 212 assists while Diana Etienne has added 119
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (42-67, 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.
 
Southern Arkansas: Steven Gream (101-81, 6th season)
- In his sixth year as the head coach at SAU, with four winning seasons during his tenure
- Led the Muleriders to 20 or more wins twice, in his first season of 2010 and 2012
- Previously spent five years as the head coach at his alma mater, Union University
 
Arkansas-Monticello: Kelly Burdeau (7-8, 1st season)
- Named the fourth head coach in UAM volleyball history in July
- Came to UAM after serving two seasons as the head coach for NCAA Division II Brevard College
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU is one of five teams sitting at 3-2 in the GAC standings through five games
- Other teams tied at 3-2 include: Ouachita, Southern Arkansas, Harding and Southern Nazarene
- Those five teams sit two games behind Arkansas Tech and Oklahoma Baptist, who lead the league with a perfect 5-0 mark
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU picked up a 3-0 non-conference win over Langston on Monday night after going 1-3 last week
- The Bulldogs dropped four-set GAC matches to Southeastern & Oklahoma Baptist
- SWOSU then split a Saturday tri-match by defeating Oklahoma City and falling to West Texas A&M
 
SWOSU Notes
- Carly Zak is closing in on 900 career kills, entering the weekend with 898 for her career. Zak is currently ranked fifth in the GAC with 187 kills (3.60/set) for the year
- Setter Kayla Hebert ranks third in the league with 499 assists (9.78/set) and she is sixth on the team with 58 kills. Hebert also has the highest hitting percentage on the team at .306
- Kelsi Schmidtberger set a new career high with eight blocks, the most by a Bulldog this season, against Oklahoma City
- Schmidtberger and Paige Holt are both second on the team with 98 kills for the year with both hitting above .200 for the season
- Holt leads the team and ranks ninth in the league with 39 blocks (0.74/set)
- Kaila Lancaster eclipsed another career milestone with her 1,500th career dig last week. Lancaster sits well atop the SWOSU career list with 1,534 digs, and she's sixth in the GAC with 246 (4.73/set) this season)
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU Volleyball will be on the road for three matches next week, beginning on Thursday evening at Southwestern Christian
- From there, the Bulldogs head to Arkansas to face Arkansas Tech & Harding in GAC play