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SWOSU (4-10, 2-2 GAC) at Oklahoma Baptist (9-8, 3-1 GAC) Tuesday, Oct. 4, 7:00 pm Shawnee, Okla. (Noble Complex) Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- The midpoint of SWOSU Volleyball's current five-game road trip comes on Tuesday evening when the Bulldogs face Oklahoma Baptist at 7:00 pm in Shawnee
- SWOSU is 1-4 against Oklahoma Baptist since 2012, including going 0-2 against the Lady Bison last season in OBU's first as a member of the Great American Conference
- The Bulldogs enter the week with momentum, having defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 3-2 and East Central 3-0 on the road this past weekend
- Oklahoma Baptist, meanwhile, is coming off their first conference defeat, a five-set loss at East Central last Tuesday
 
The Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (9-8, 3-1 GAC)
- The Lady Bison are currently one-half game out of first place in the Great American Conference standings with a 3-1 mark in league play, but they are coming off their lone conference loss
- For the year, OBU is 9-8 over and 5-1 at the Noble Complex, including an upset win over nationally-ranked Washburn during the GAC-MIAA Crossover
- Leading the Lady Bison offensively are Nicole Fleitman and Shekinah Sharpe, who are both averaging better than 2.0 kills per set while setter Kynnedy Myers has topped 40 assists in four of her last six matches
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (60-82, 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.
 
Oklahoma Baptist: Anna Howle (240-93, 9th season)
- Has served as the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist since reviving the volleyball program in 2008
- Oklahoma Baptist has won at least 24 matches in each season she's been at the helm, with four Sooner Athletic Conference championships to their credit
- Prior to OBU, Howle enjoyed a standout playing career at Oklahoma and coaching stints at Carl Albert HS and the Sooner Volleyball Club
 
Checking the Standings
- With two wins last weekend, SWOSU has evened their conference record at 2-2 and moved into sole possession of eighth place in the current GAC standings
- Oklahoma Baptist is 3-1 in league play and alone in third place in the standings, one-half game behind Southern Nazarene and Arkansas Tech who are both 4-1
- SWOSU is one-half game behind a four-way tie for fourth place in the league with Harding, Ouachita, Henderson State and East Central all at 3-2
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU dispatched of East Central in straight sets on Saturday to sweep their weekend road trip and improve to 2-2 in league play
- The Bulldogs were led by 15 kills from senior Carly Zak, who hit .364 for the match with three hitting errors, and DeLayni Fine who added nine kills
- Blair Dressendorfer served up five aces, helping the Bulldogs to 10 aces as a team, one off of their season high
 
SWOSU Notes
- Carly Zak and Kaitlyn Dillon have been named the GAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for helping the Bulldogs go 2-0 with wins over Southeastern and East Central last weekend
- With a combined 21 service aces over the weekend, SWOSU has moved into second in the GAC with 76 (1.43 per set) for the year, trailing only Oklahoma Baptist at 1.52 aces per set
- SWOSU limited East Central to a hitting percentage of .082 on Saturday, the lowest hitting effort by a Bulldog opponent this season, and the Dawgs have held their last three opponents to a percentage under .200
- Kaitlyn Dillon is third in the GAC during conference matches with 89 (5.56 per set) and she has 14 or more digs in each of her last five games
- SWOSU leads the Great American Conference with 298 digs (18.62 per set) in four conference matches, which is quite significant when considering their overall season total of 752 digs (14.19 per set) ranks last in the conference for the year
- DeLayni Fine saw her first extended action of the season this weekend and she responded with 20 kills and five blocks while hitting .240 over the course of two matches
- Blair Dressendorfer had nine service aces combined against Southeastern and East Central, moving her into the GAC lead with 10 (0.71 per set) during conference play
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU Volleyball has another busy weekend ahead with conference road matches at Arkansas-Monticello (Friday) and Southern Arkansas (Saturday) coming up
- The Bulldogs return home next Monday for a rematch with nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma at 7:00 pm inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center