SEARCY, Ark. – Southern Arkansas aced its first test in the 2012 Great American Conference postseason volleyball tournament Thursday with a 3-2 win over East Central at Rhodes Field House.  The Lady Muleriders (23-11) are the No. 3 seed in the single-elimination tournament, while the Lady Tigers (10-23) were the sixth seed.
 
Senior opposite hitter Courtney Smith (Mansfield, Texas) had 15 kills for the Lady Muleriders, and junior outside hitter Denise De Vine (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) had 11 and 13 digs.
 
Noelle Cope and Tatiana Booth each had 16 kills for the Lady Tigers, while Danielle Essix added 13.
 
SAU overcame a 2-1 deficit to claim the win.  They won the first set 25-22, before falling 12-25 and 15-25 in the next two, but secured the fourth and final sets, 25-18 and 15-11.
 
Southern Arkansas won where it counted – on the scoreboard, while ECU had higher marks on the stat sheet.  They claimed a 59-43 advantage in kills and out-hit the Lady Muleriders .228 to .132, while both finished with 23 attack errors.  East Central also had a 9-7 edge in service aces, and both teams were even with seven blocks.  SAU picked up points in service errors, committing only eight to the Lady Tigers' 15, and had no ball-handling errors to two for ECU.
 
Junior setter Klaire Blasco Vine (Downey, Calif.) picked up three service aces for Southern Arkansas and dished out 35 assists.
 
Junior libero Lauren Woods (Kennedale, Texas) had a match-high 18 digs, and junior outside hitter Courtney Geesing (Montrose, Calif.) finished with 11 and also added nine kills.  Smith and senior middle hitters Monica Cox (Channelview, Texas) and Vanessa Ascencio (Montebello, Calif.) all had three blocks.
 
Smith's 15 kills pushed her over 1,000 for her career, now standing at 1,007, while De Vine went above the 400-mark for the season, now with 407.
 
The Lady Muleriders' 23 wins on the season are the most in 16 years, since the 1996 team finished 27-10.
 
SAU advances to Friday's 3:30 p.m. semi-final match where they will face No. 2 Arkansas Tech, which defeated No. 7 Arkansas-Monticello 3-0 in Thursday's second first-round contest.  The Golden Suns and Southern Arkansas finished tied for second in the regular season conference standings.