Setting the Scene
- Two teams that sit among the top four in the current Great American Conference standings will visit the Pioneer Cellular Event Center this weekend as SWOSU hosts current conference leader Harding on Friday night and defending conference champion Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon
- Harding sits atop the GAC standings with an unblemished mark of 7-0 and the Lady Bisons have won eight straight games overall heading into Friday night's showdown
- Arkansas Tech brings a four-game win streak into the weekend and they're sitting fourth in the standings with a 5-2 mark in league games
- SWOSU is 2-9 against Harding and 3-7 against Arkansas Tech as GAC foes, but they swept the weekend series against the two times in 2016, the last time both teams visited Weatherford
- The Bulldogs will be facing the last two GAC Players of the Year this weekend in middle hitter Zoe Hardin of Harding (2016) and setter Amanda Milnick from Arkansas Tech (2017)
 
The Opponents
Harding (12-6, 7-0 GAC)
- The Lady Bisons have dropped just four sets as they have opened up 7-0 in GAC play, going to five sets just once in a 3-2 win at Ouachita
- Harding leads the GAC in hitting percentage (.257) while ranking second in kills (13.25/set), assists (12.27/set) and blocks (1.99/set)
- HU has claimed seven GAC Player of the Week honors this season, including six over the past three weeks, led by Zoe Hardin – a two-time Offensive Player of the Week and the reigning Defensive Player of the Week
 
Arkansas Tech (12-7, 5-2 GAC)
- The reigning conference champion Golden Suns have won four straight matches and five of their last six to improve to 5-2 in league play
- ATU leads the league in kills (13.35/set) and assists (12.49/set) while also ranking third in digs (18.45/set) and blocks (1.92/set)
- The Golden Suns are led by reigning GAC Player of the Year Amanda Milnick, who ranks fourth in the league in assists (8.67/set) and fifth in hitting percentage (.301)
 
Checking the Standings
- Unbeaten Harding has a one-game lead over 6-1 SWOSU and Henderson State heading into the weekend
- Arkansas Tech is just one game behind the Bulldogs and Reddies at 5-2 before a trio of teams – Northwestern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Baptist and Ouachita – are just behind at 4-3
- Five teams are currently below .500 in league play, with SNU in eighth in the standings at 3-4
 
SWOSU Notes
- Sofia Gruden had a monster weekend on the road trip to Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello, hitting .531 with 19 kills and just two hitting errors in the two matches combined
- Kaitlyn Dillon enters the weekend needing five digs to become just the second player in SWOSU Volleyball history to reach the 1,500-career dig plateau, where she will join Kaila Lancaster, who had 1,785 digs in her career at SWOSU from 2012-15
- Allie Hoang is averaging 9.96 assists per set during Great American Conference play, setting up her hitters for a .215 hitting percentage in those matches
- The Bulldogs have four different hitters with more than 100 kills on the year, led by Danusia Sipa Borgeaud (198) and Elizabeth McVicker (146)
- Gruden leads the team with 49 blocks (5 solo, 44 assist) and she's hitting a team-leading .338 with 117 kills on the year
- SWOSU is on pace to set a new single-season school record for service aces, with a league-leading 115 (1.83/set) to date
- Eight different players have recorded a service ace for the Dawgs, who are led by Dillon (29), Klemson Lancaster (24), Borgeaud (18) and Kodee Avery (18)
 
Looking Ahead
- Next weekend takes the Bulldogs to Arkadelphia for a pair of conference matches against Henderson State (Oct. 12) and Ouachita (Oct. 13)
- SWOSU will then wrap up the regular season with return matches against the five in-state conference rivals, beginning at Southeastern (Oct. 18)