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Harding (13-5, 5-2 GAC) at SWOSU (5-13, 3-4 GAC) Friday, Oct. 14, 6:00 pm Arkansas Tech (14-7, 6-1 GAC) at SWOSU Saturday, Oct. 15, 2:00 pm Lubbock Christian (10-8) at SWOSU Saturday, Oct. 15, 6:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball (5-13, 3-4 GAC) hosts three opponents for matches inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center this weekend, including conference foes Harding and Arkansas Tech
- The Dawgs will face Harding on Friday night at 6:00 pm before meeting co-conference leader Arkansas Tech on Saturday at 2:00 pm
- The weekend will conclude with a non-conference meeting against Lubbock Christian on Saturday at 6:00 pm as SWOSU rounds out a home-and-home series with the Lady Chaps
- The Bulldogs enter the weekend still searching for their first home victory of the season and they are 3-4 in GAC matches
 
The Opponent
Harding (13-5, 5-2 GAC)
- Had a three-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a four-set defeat at Arkansas-Fort Smith
- Harding has won three straight GAC matches and four of their last five to move into sole possession of third place in the league standings
- The Lady Bisons are the second-best hitting team in the league with a .225 hitting percentage and 12.83 kills per set while leading the GAC with 143 total blocks (2.42 per set)
- Zoe Hardin and Sara Smith lead the GAC in hitting with percentages of .370 and .351, respectively, while Harding is also the top blocker in the conference with 1.64 blocks per set
 
Arkansas Tech (14-7, 6-1 GAC)
- Currently the co-leader in the Great American Conference, tied atop the standings with Oklahoma Baptist at 6-1 in league matches
- Arkansas Tech has won six straight matches without dropping a set since suffering their lone conference loss on September 27th against Henderson State
- ATU holds opponents to a .155 hitting percentage, the second-best hitting defense in the GAC while leading the league in kills (13.39 per set) and ranking second in assists (12.35 per set)
- Hunter Eshnaur leads the Golden Suns with 259 kills (3.60 per set) while Lauren Rodemers has a team-best hitting percentage of .332
 
Lubbock Christian (10-8)
- The Chaps enter the weekend with a 10-8 overall record following a four-set defeat at West Texas A&M on Tuesday and they are tied for third in the Heartland Conference with a 4-2 league record
- LCU is 2-0 against Great American Conference foes this season with a four-set win over Harding and a sweep of SWOSU in Lubbock to their credit
- Lubbock Christian averages 12.07 kills per set while hitting .164, with Emily Hanaway leading the team with 213 kills
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (61-85, 5th season)
- Led the Bulldogs to the best season in program history in 2015, winning 22 games and the GAC Tournament Championship
- Has coached nine All-GAC selections, one GAC Freshman of the Year and one AVCA All-Central Region selection in four 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.
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU enters the weekend with a record of 3-4 in league play, which places the Dawgs tied with Arkansas-Monticello and East Central for seventh place in the standings
- This weekend's opponents, Arkansas Tech and Harding, are both among the top three teams in the standings with Arkansas Tech tied for first with Oklahoma Baptist and Harding one game behind in third
- The Bulldogs are one game behind a three-way tie for fourth place that includes Ouachita, Southern Nazarene and Henderson State
 
SWOSU Notes
- Carly Zak recorded a double-double with 11 digs and 10 kills in SWOSU's earlier meeting this season at Lubbock Christian, while Kodee Avery had a team-best 14 assists
- Harding will be making their first-ever visit to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, where SWOSU is 14-13 all-time and 9-8 in conference matches
- Arkansas Tech returns to Weatherford for the first time since earning a 3-0 victory over the Bulldogs on October 17, 2014
- SWOSU has one all-time victory against both Harding (Oct. 17, 2015) and Arkansas Tech (Nov. 3, 2012), with both coming under the direction of head coach Josh Collins
- Arkansas Tech and Harding have combined to win all five Great American Conference regular season championships and the first four GAC Tournament titles before SWOSU claimed the crown in 2015
- Jill Green has recorded 33 kills in the past three matches and she's averaging 1.90 kills per set for the year with a .111 hitting percentage
- DeLayni Fine has put down six or more kills in four of the past six matches and her hitting percentage of .202 is the third-best among SWOSU's hitters
- Kelsi Schmidtberger is hitting a team-high .227 for the year while averaging 1.88 kills per set and she leads the Dawgs with 48 blocks (2 solo, 46 assist)
 
Looking Ahead
- The final Arkansas road trip of the year takes the Dawgs to Arkadelphia to face Henderson State (Oct. 21) and Ouachita (Oct. 22) next weekend
- SWOSU then plays their final five home matches before a trip to Northwestern Oklahoma State to round out the regular season on November 10th