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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball (2-10, 0-2 GAC) hits the road for back-to-back days of GAC action this week against Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant on Friday (Sept. 30) and East Central in Ada on Saturday (Oct. 1)
- Last season the Bulldogs went 0-2 against SE and 2-0 against ECU
- All-time in Division II, SWOSU is 8-10 against the Savage Storm and 7-6 against the Tigers
 
The Opponents
Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm (7-8, 0-3 GAC)
- In 2015, the Savage Storm finished 7-23 losing in the first round of the GAC tournament
- SE has lost their last three matches coming into the game with SWOSU
- The Southeastern attack is led by Abby Jameson and Karine Cavalcante who have a combined 299 kills on the season so far
 
East Central Tigers (4-10, 2-0 GAC)
- ECU finished last season 7-21 and did not qualify for post season play
- East Central has already suffered an eight game losing streak this season before beating SE and Oklahoma Baptist to start the GAC schedule undefeated
- The Tigers have four different players with 80 or more kills, and two players tied for the team lead with 96

The Coaches
SWOSU: Josh Collins (57-76, 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
 
Southeastern Oklahoma State: Brianna Barry (25-37; 3rd season)
- In her two seasons, Coach Barry has led the Savage Storm to back-to-back postseason appearances
- In her first season at the helm the team posted an 18-14 mark overall and a third-place finish in the Great American Conference standings, matching its highest finish in school history
- Barry played professionally in Switzerland for Volleyball Franches-Montagnes, serving as captain for the third season
- Prior to her professional career she was four-year starter at Florida State where as a senior in 2009 she was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, a Second Team All-American and the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year
 
East Central: Melissa Anderson (0-0; 1st season)
- Coach Anderson became just the second head coach for ECU Volleyball team in April 2016
- Anderson returns to ECU after spending the last eight years as the head volleyball coach at Otero Junior College
- Five of her eight seasons at Otero ended with 19 or more win seasons
- Under her tutelage, Otero produced 18 All-Region IX selections in the NJCAA, with no less than two honorees in each of her eight seasons
 
Checking the Standings
- Currently, East Central sits atop the Great American Conference standings with a 2-0 record in league play
- Four teams are tied for second place with 3-1 records: Ouachita, Southern Nazarene, Arkansas Tech, and Oklahoma Baptist
- Harding and Henderson State are tied for third with 2-2 records
- Three teams have won one game so far: Northwestern Oklahoma State (1-2), Southern Arkansas (1-3), and Arkansas-Monticello (1-3)
- SWOSU is 0-2 and Southeastern Oklahoma State is 0-3    

Last Time Out
- The Bulldogs fell to Northwestern Oklahoma State last Thursday (Sept. 22) 3-1
- Against the Rangers Kelsi Schmidtberger topped her career high in kills, collecting 16 over four sets
- Carly Zak started slow in the match but finished with a team high 18 kills
- Kaitlyn Dillon led all Bulldogs with 28 digs in the match

SWOSU Notes
- Zak, the Bulldog's all-time leader in kills, currently leads the GAC in kills per set averaging 4.09 with 184 total on the season
- Schmidtberger leads all SWOSU players with 35 blocks on the season
- Dillon has collected 148 digs on the season (3.29 per set), 37 more than Kayla Herbert's 111 (2.52 per set)
- SWOSU looks to snap their current three-game losing streak going into the SE match

Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs remain on the road next week facing off against Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday (Oct. 4) before heading east for matches against Arkansas-Monticello (Oct. 7) and Southern Arkansas (Oct. 8)
- SWOSU returns back home to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center Monday, October 10 for a tough test against #7 Central Oklahoma in a non-conference match