MAGNOLIA, Ark. – In each of the first two Great American Conference Tournaments, the Southern Arkansas volleyball team has won their opening round match and played in the tournament semi-final.
This year, the Lady Muleriders (17-14) may have a tougher road to navigate on paper as they enter as the tournament's No.7 seed, but the expectations for similar results of the past remain the same.
 
First up for the Lady Muleriders in this year's GAC Tournament will be their most recent regular season opponent Arkansas Tech. Less than a week ago, the Lady Muleriders and Golden Suns (22-11) closed out their respective regular seasons with a classic five-set match in Magnolia. In that match, SAU would come away the victors as they battled back from a 2-1 set deficit to overtake the Golden Suns in five sets (26-24, 20-25, 23-25, 25-14, 16-14).
 
The season series between the two was split as earlier in the year the No.2 seed Golden Suns swept the Lady Muleriders in Russellville (17-25, 22-25, 17-25).
 
Thursday's match, which is slated for a first-serve of 2:30 p.m., will be the second meeting between the two in the GAC Tournament. ATU won the initial meeting in 2012 as the Golden Suns defeated the Lady Muleriders in straight sets in the tournament semi-final.
 
On the year, SAU, as a team, is among the top-five in a pair of categories in the GAC. The Lady Muleriders' 188 service aces during the season rank them second in the GAC, behind only Arkansas Tech, while their .181 attack percentage ranks fourth in the GAC.
 
Individually, the Lady Muleriders have six players rank in the top-10 in several statistical categories.
 
Senior libero Lauren Woods leads the league in digs per set as she ended the season with 5.14 digs per set (514 overall). Junior newcomer Amanda Monge ranks third in attack percentage (.311) and service aces (50). Setter Gabby Clark is fourth in assists per set with 9.46 (946 overall). Logan Tolbert and Allie Cecil rank sixth in attack percentage (.274) and service aces (41), respectively. Freshman newcomer Hailey McNee rounds out the individual top-10 ranking as she is seventh in the GAC in kills with 323.
 
Thursday's match between SAU and ATU, along with the entirety of the tournament, will have live stats and live video provided by the Great American Conference. For those links, visit: http://greatamericanconference.com/sports/2013/11/3/WVB_1103130834.aspx
 
The winner of Thursday's match will advance to face the winner of the East Central vs. Southeastern Oklahoma State match that will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.