---

SWOSU (4-11, 2-3 GAC) at Arkansas-Monticello (5-12, 1-4 GAC) Friday, Oct. 7, 6:00 pm Live Stats  |  Watch Live SWOSU (4-11, 2-3 GAC) at Southern Arkansas (5-12, 1-4 GAC) Saturday, Oct. 8, 1:00 pm Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball concludes their current five-game road swing this weekend with two Great American Conference matches in Arkansas
- The Bulldogs meet Arkansas-Monticello on Friday evening at 6:00 pm before heading to Magnolia to face Southern Arkansas on Saturday at 1:00 pm
- SWOSU enters the weekend with a record of 4-11, including a 2-3 mark in GAC play and they are 2-1 on the current road trip
- This will be SWOSU's first trip into Arkansas this season for conference play and they'll return in two weeks to face Henderson State and Ouachita
 
The Opponent
Arkansas-Monticello (5-12, 1-4 GAC)
- UAM enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak after defeating Central Baptist and Christian Brothers during a tri-match on Tuesday in Memphis
- The Blossoms also earned their first conference victory last week over Southern Arkansas and UAM has won three of their last four matches overall
- UAM ranks fourth in the GAC with a .197 hitting percentage, but Friday's match will pit the two teams allowing the highest hitting percentages to their opponents
- Carolina Gasparini leads UAM with 172 kills, while Shay Mitchell (168) and Kya Standford (106) are the Blossoms other top offensive threats
 
Southern Arkansas (5-12, 1-4 GAC)
- SAU enters the weekend with a 5-12 record after defeating Williams Baptist on Monday and they are 1-4 in league play with a five-set win over Henderson State at home on September 22nd
- The Muleriders are hitting .149 as a team with an average of 11.2 kills per set while opponents are hitting .199 against SAU with 12.0 kills per set
- Serena LeDuff is the top hitter for SAU, averaging 2.68 kills per set while hitting .160 and the Muleriders have three other players with more than 125 kills
- SAU has two different setters who are averaging better than 8.0 assists per set, including Katy Cooper with 345 assists for the year and Savannah Pillow with 245
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (60-83, 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.
 
Arkansas-Monticello: Kelly Burdeau (17-29, 2nd season)
- In her second season at UAM after being named the fourth coach in program history in July of 2015
- Led the Blossoms to a record of 12-17 in her first season after spending the previous two years as the head coach at Brevard College
 
Southern Arkansas: Britney Davis (5-12, 1st season)
- In her first season as the head coach at SAU after being promoted to the position last December
- Prior to becoming the head volleyball coach, Davis served as the program's graduate assistant for the past two seasons
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU enters the weekend alone in eighth place in the Great American Conference standings, one game ahead of both Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas
- The Bulldogs are 2-3 in league play, but just one game behind a trio of teams tied for third place in the standings
- Oklahoma Baptist is currently atop the standings at 5-1, one-half game ahead of Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene at 4-1
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU was unable to maintain their momentum built with road wins last weekend as Oklahoma Baptist swept the Bulldogs 3-0 on Tuesday evening in Shawnee
- Carly Zak led the Bulldogs with 11 kills, but also had seven hitting errors and finished with a .095 hitting percentage
- Kayla Hebert had a team-high 19 assists while Kaitlyn Dillon led SWOSU with 19 digs from her libero position
 
SWOSU Notes
- Saturday's matchup against Southern Arkansas will be the first between the programs since SWOSU defeated SAU 3-1 to win the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament Championship last November
- SWOSU makes their first trip to Magnolia and Monticello since 2013, when they defeated both UAM and SAU in four sets
- Carly Zak enters the weekend with 1,388 career kills, leaving her 12 shy of becoming the first player in program history to reach the 1,400-kill career plateau
- Kaitlyn Dillon is the reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Week and she currently ranks second in the GAC with 5.68 digs per set during league play
- SWOSU leads the GAC with 1.79 service aces per set during conference matches and they are led by Carly Zak (11) and Blair Dressendorfer (10)
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will play four matches at home next week, beginning on Monday at 7:00 pm against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma
- SWOSU will then play conference games against Harding (Friday) and Arkansas Tech (Saturday) before concluding a home-and-home series with Lubbock Christian on Saturday evening