MONTICELLO, Ark. – Southern Arkansas made it a season sweep of Arkansas-Monticello with a 3-1 win in Great American Conference play Tuesday at Steelman Fieldhouse.  Scores were 25-13, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-20.
 
The Lady Muleriders (22-9, 11-2 GAC) earlier handed the Cotton Blossoms (11-22, 4-9 GAC) a 3-2 setback in September in Magnolia.  The win was SAU's third consecutive and fifth in its past six matches.
 
Junior outside hitter Denise De Vine (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) led Southern Arkansas with a match-high 14 kills.  Senior middle hitter Monica Cox (Channelview, Texas) and senior hitter Courtney Smith (Mansfield, Texas) chipped in 10 kills each.
 
Christina Rini and Amy Kleypas had 13 kills apiece for UAM.
 
The Lady Muleriders held a 50-43 edge in kills and out-hit their opponent .197 to .131, and also had 11 service aces in the match, with senior middle hitter Vanessa Ascencio (Montebello, Calif.) serving three.
 
Junior setter Klaire Blasco Vine (Downey, Calif.) tossed up 40 assists to her teammates, and she and junior libero Lauren Woods (Kennedale, Texas) each had 12 digs, while De Vine added 11 digs.
 
SAU remains in sole possession of second place in the GAC standings with their 11-2 league mark, while Arkansas Tech (10-3) stayed at third with a 3-0 win at Henderson State Tuesday.  Harding remains at the top of the standings with a perfect 13-0 record in conference play and has already secured the regular season GAC championship and will host the postseason tournament November 15-17.
 
Southern Arkansas wraps up GAC play Thursday when they travel to Russellville for a 7 p.m. match against the Golden Suns.  With a win the Lady Muleriders would be the second seed in the upcoming tournament.  A Tech victory would give them the second seed in a tie-breaker as they already defeated SAU in Magnolia last month.