WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Volleyball kicks off its main portion of Great American Conference play on Tuesday when they welcome in Oklahoma Baptist to the Pioneer Event Center for their home opener, after opening the season with their first 12 games on the road.
The Dawgs have gone 6-5 in non-conference play so far with Cameron left as the lone non-conference game on the schedule. In these opening 12 games the Dawgs have picked up some big time wins, Earning victories over Pittsburg State (11-1) and Drury (9-2).
The Bulldogs have already collected one GAC match under their belt, taking down Southern Nazarene in their building 3-1. SNU (8-5) was 8-0 but has since lost their last five games they have played, with the Dawgs being responsible for the second of those loses.
SWOSU will look to continue their home dominance this season, over the last five seasons the Dawgs have gone 40-5 inside the PEC and have not had more than two losses at home in a season since 2017.
SWOSU is currently one of the top blocking teams in the conference, averaging 1.98 blocks per set, just behind Henderson State for the top spot in the GAC. The Bulldogs are also hitting .221 on the season, which ranks third in the conference, with 572 kills. They are averaging 16.18 points per set, also third-best in the GAC.
Individually, Mackenzie Sims ranks 26th nationally and second in the GAC with 9.86 assists per set. She is tied for second in the GAC with 51 assists in a single match and ranks fifth nationally with 434 total assists.
Sims has 1,045 career assists and reached 1,000 against UMSL in just 38 matches. Allie Hoang holds the SWOSU career record with 3,708 assists in 477 sets. Sims is averaging 8.57 assists per set for her career, which ranks second in SWOSU history. Currently, Sims is on track to be among the top of the list for career assists.
Katja Blanchat is averaging 1.17 blocks per set, while Sydney Winfrey is at 1.11. Those numbers rank second and third in SWOSU history, respectively, behind Zoey Sparks at 1.19. Winfrey is also averaging 1.07 blocks per set this season, which ranks first in the GAC and is tied for 39th nationally.
Blanchat is currently 41st in the nation in hitting percentage at .394, which ranks second in the GAC.
Jada Permenter currently has 1,763 career digs, ranking third in SWOSU history and just 22 behind Kaila Lancaster for second. She is on pace to pass Lancaster and finish the season in second place with more than 2,000 career digs.
SWOSU has finished in the top three of the conference for eight consecutive years, the longest streak in GAC history. The Bulldogs went 12-4 during the regular season last year and reached the GAC Tournament Championship Game for the second time in program history.
