Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Volleyball plays their final crossover games on the Great American Conference schedule with a road trip to Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Henderson State and Ouachita
- On Friday night, the Bulldogs will meet Henderson State in a matchup of first-place teams, with both teams knotted with Harding atop the GAC standings at 8-1 in league play
- The Bulldogs head across the street on Saturday to tussle with Ouachita, who is in a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings at 6-3
- SWOSU and Henderson State both enter the weekend with four-game winning streaks, while Ouachita is the hottest team in the conference right now with six straight wins to their credit
 
The Opponents
Henderson State (19-3, 8-1 GAC)
- The Reddies have won 18 of their last 19 matches after starting the season 1-2 and they moved into a share of first place in the conference standings with wins at East Central and Southeastern last weekend
- Henderson State leads the conference and ranks ninth nationally in blocks, with 194 on the year for an average of 2.52 per set
- Leading HSU is Adrianna Hartmann, who leads the conference in hitting percentage (.413) while ranking second in blocks (1.12 per set), and Courtney Bolf, who's second in the league with 3.46 kills per set
 
Ouachita (17-6, 6-3 GAC)
- The Tigers have won six straight GAC matches after suffering their three conference defeats consecutively to Arkansas Tech, Harding and Henderson State
- Ouachita is one of the top offensive teams in the conference, ranking second in hitting percentage (.237) and third in both assists (12.22 per set) and kills (12.90 per set)
- Leading Ouachita is the GAC's all-time leader in assists, Stormi Leonard, who is averaging 10.44 assists per set this season, along with Adrianna Nolly, who averages 3.43 kills per set with an attack percentage of .335
 
Checking the Standings
- The top six spots in the Great American Conference standings are separated by just two games, with SWOSU, Harding and Henderson State all currently atop the rankings at 8-1
- Arkansas Tech, Oklahoma Baptist and Ouachita are all two games back of the top spot at 6-3, with Southern Nazarene one game behind in seventh place
- Northwestern Oklahoma State has the inside track to the final spot in the GAC Tournament at 4-5, two games clear of Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2-7
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU became the first conference team since 2015 to sweep the GAC's Weekly Awards on Monday as Elizabeth McVicker (Offense), Kaitlyn Dillon (Defense) and Allie Hoang (Setter) were all chosen as GAC Players of the Week
- McVicker totaled 29 kills in SWOSU's wins over Harding and Arkansas Tech, averaging 3.22 kills per set while connecting with a .371 attack percentage
- Dillon anchored the Bulldogs defense with an average of 6.67 digs per set and she became the second player in program history to reach the 1,500-dig plateau on Friday night against Harding
- Hoang had a double-double in both matches last week, including a new career high with 28 digs against Arkansas Tech, and averaged 10.44 assists and 5.67 digs per set
- SWOSU leads the Great American Conference and ranks 11th in NCAA Division II with an average of 19.73 digs per set – led by conference leader Kaitlyn Dillon with 5.38 per set
- Kodee Avery and Dillon have both moved into the top 10 for career service aces at SWOSU, with Avery (73) tied for sixth with Dillon (72) right behind in eighth place
- SWOSU leads the GAC in service aces (1.76 per set) behind Dillon (32) and Klemson Lancaster (26), who are both ranked among the top four in the conference in the category
- Sofia Gruden and McVicker both ranks among the top five in the league in attack percentage, with Gruden in third with a mark of .346 and McVicker sitting sixth with a .306 hitting clip
- Danusia Sipa Borgeaud leads the Bulldogs offensively with 224 kills, while four other players have put away more than 100 kills for the year
- Jenny Tackett set a new career high with 15 kills in the win over Harding, giving her 108 kills on the year with a .212 hitting percentage
- Hoang enters the weekend needing 55 assists to become the ninth player in SWOSU Volleyball history to reach the 1,000-career assists plateau
- Emily Holm has put away at least seven kills in 13 consecutive matches, tying her career-best with 11 in the Dawgs win over Harding, and she's third on the team with 147 kills for the year
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will play their final five matches of the season against in-state conference foes, beginning next Thursday (Oct. 18) with a trip to Durant to face Southeastern Oklahoma State
- The Bulldogs will be back at home in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center next Saturday (Oct. 20) for a rematch against Oklahoma Baptist