Box Score MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas volleyball team returned home on Friday night to take on Southwestern Oklahoma in Great American Conference action. After dropping the first set, SAU evened the match in the second set, but lost the next two sets as they lost the match to SWOSU, 3-1, inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
In the opening set, the two teams played each other tight throughout as there were 14 tie scores and seven lead changes. With the set tied at 23-all, SAU's Hailey McNee tallied a kill off of an assist from reigning GAC Setter of the Week, Gabby Clark, to give the Lady Muleriders (9-6, 2-2 GAC) set-point. The Lady Bulldogs (5-10, 2-2 GAC) staved off the set-point as they broke serve via a SAU attack error. On the ensuing service, SWOSU's Joey Collins recorded one of her match-high 22 kills to give the Lady Bulldogs set point. Following a timeout by SAU, SWOSU would win the set on a kill from Brandy Mader.
 
Unlike set one, set two was controlled mostly by the Lady Muleriders as they opened up an 11-point lead, 15-4 early in the set. En route to darting out to that commanding lead, SAU went on a 9-0 run when the score was 6-4 in favor of SAU. Highlighted in that run was Allie Cecil racking up three consecutive service aces for points 10, 11, and 12.
 
The Lady Bulldogs would mount a comeback effort, but weren't able to get any closer than four points as SAU went on to capture the second set by a score of 25-20.
 
The all-important third set featured highs and lows for the Lady Muleriders as they were once again able to establish a significant lead midway through the set. This time, however, the Lady Bulldogs' comeback effort would produce a set win as they closed out the set with an 8-1 run to win by a score of 26-24.
 
After the disappointing loss in the third set, the Lady Muleriders came back in the fourth set and grabbed an early 3-2 lead, but a 5-0 run by the Lady Bulldogs from that point, gave SWOSU a lead they would not relinquish. The Lady Muleriders would get as close a point on a couple of occasions, but SWOSU eventually to the set, 25-20, and the match 3-1.
 
Statistically, the Lady Muleriders totaled 47 kills with Logan Tolbert leading the way with 11 kills. Hailey McNee was second with 10 kills while Cambria Martin and Amanda Monge each had nine kills. Gabby Clark paced the offense with 41 of the team's 44 assists. Defensively, three Lady Muleriders would come away with double-digit digs with Lauren Woods leading the way with a match-high 27 digs.  As a team, SAU would total 13.0 blocks as six players would record either a block solo or a block assist. Monge would lead the team in blocks with four assisted blocks and two solo blocks.
 
The Lady Muleriders will be in action on Saturday, October 5 as they will play host to Northwestern Oklahoma. First-serve at the W.T. Watson Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.