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Northwestern Oklahoma State (1-13, 0-1 GAC) at SWOSU (2-9, 0-1 GAC) Thursday, Sept. 22, 7:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- Three weeks after playing their home opener, the SWOSU Volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of the Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Thursday evening to host Northwestern Oklahoma State
- The game will be the conference home opener for the Bulldogs, who opened Great American Conference play on Tuesday at Southern Nazarene
- SWOSU dropped their season opener at home against Northern Michigan after finishing 10-2 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center last season
 
The Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State (1-13, 0-1 GAC)
- The Rangers come to Weatherford with a 1-13 record after dropping their first 11 contests of the 2016 season before picking up a 3-1 victory over Southwest Baptist last Friday in Edmond at the GAC-MIAA Crossover
- Northwestern has battled a touch non-conference schedule that includes defeats against nationally-ranked Nebraska-Kearny, Central Oklahoma and Washburn
- NWOSU is 0-1 in league player after suffering a straight-set defeat at Oklahoma Baptist last week
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (58-81, 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.
 
Northwestern Oklahoma State: Fredrick Wagner (12-31, 2nd season)
- In his second season at Northwestern following two years at Iowa Central Community College, where he collected a 55-36 overall record
- Also spent time at Kansas City Community College, Avila University, Central Florida, Campbell and Metro State
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU opens the season 0-1 in conference play after a 3-1 setback at Southern Nazarene on Tuesday night in Bethany
- Four teams who have played a conference game remain unblemished atop the standings, with Ouachita, Arkansas Tech and Oklahoma Baptist all 2-0
- SWOSU and Northwestern will both be searching for their first conference win of 2016 as they are two of three teams currently 0-1 in league play
 
Last Time Out
- Southern Nazarene defeated SWOSU 3-1 on Tuesday night in the Great American Conference opener for both teams
- The Crimson Storm had 61 kills while hitting .212 for the match compared to 33 kills and a .109 hitting percentage for the Bulldogs
- Carly Zak led SWOSU with 12 kills while Kayla Hebert had a double-double with 28 assists and 14 digs and Kaitlyn Dillon set a new career-high with 20 digs
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU is 7-2 against Northwestern Oklahoma State since the Rangers reinstated volleyball for the 2012 season and the Bulldogs are riding a three-game win streak against NWOSU
- With four double-doubles this season, Kayla Hebert now has 25 in her two-year career at SWOSU, a mark that ranks her third in SWOSU Volleyball history behind Kristen Kaufman (32, 2006-09) and Lindsey Dusin (30, 2011-12)
- Carly Zak added 12 kills to her school-record total on Tuesday, and her current total of 1,323 kills ranks her 10th among active players in NCAA Division II
- Zak is also fifth in career blocks at SWOSU with 166, while Kelsi Schmidtberger (125) and Paige Holt (123) have entered the top ten in career blocks, holding down the number nine and ten spots, respectively
- Kaitlyn Dillon is leading the Bulldogs in digs as a freshman with 120 (2.93 per set) to date, but SWOSU is ranked last in the GAC with an average of 12.85 digs per set as a team
 
Looking Ahead
- Following Thursday's match, SWOSU will play five consecutive conference games away from home, beginning next Friday at Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant
- The next home action for the Bulldogs comes on Monday, October 10th in a rematch against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma