MAGNOLIA, Ark. – With consecutive Great American Conference victories to pull SAU to 2-2 in conference play, the Southern Arkansas Volleyball team looks to keep the momentum going as they welcome Harding into the W.T. Watson Athletic Center for a 7 p.m. first-serve in their first pivotal matchup of the 2015 campaign.
 
The Lady Muleriders (7-7, 2-2 GAC) have won three matches in a row, all on the road, including a pair against GAC competition in Henderson State (3-0, 9/24/15) and Arkansas-Monticello (3-0, 9/29/15). SAU boasts a top-three ranking in every major offensive category in the GAC which includes hitting percentage (2^nd/.214), assists (3^rd/11.75), kills (3^rd/12.71) and service aces (1^st/1.81).
 
Defensively, Southern Arkansas is tops in the conference in opponent hitting percentage holding challengers to a mark of .172. Harding (6-9, 3-1 GAC) boasts the highest blocks per set average with a clip of 2.39, .5 blocks better than the next team. Offensively for the Lady Bisons, they rank in the top five or six of most statistical categories including a fifth-best hitting percentage clip of .196.
 
Three Lady Muleriders own top-20 hitting percentages led by senior Emilie Aase's clip of .291 (9^th), followed by sophomore Alli O'Banion (17^th/.243 and junior Kaitlyn Reiner (18^th/.237). Junior Serena LeDuff is seventh in the GAC averaging 3.51 kills per set, while senior Shelby Lauterbach is 14^th with a mark of 2.65 kills per set.
 
Senior setter Taylor Reaume continues to expedite arguably one of the top statistical offenses in the GAC by averaging 9.90 assists per set. Four Lady Muleriders place in the top-12 in service aces per set led by junior Paige Mays' fifth-best mark of .44, followed by junior Gillian Newman (6^th/.40), junior Serena LeDuff (8^th/.33) and senior Allie Cecil (12^th/.32).
 
Newman (T11^th) and Reiner (19^th) average .70 and .59 blocks per set, respectively, while junior Hannah Rice (6^th) paces the Lady Mulerider backrow with 4.96 digs per set.
 
Harding's Sara Smith owns the second-best hitting percentage in the league with an average of .325, while also averaging 2.45 kills per set (20^th) and .78 blocks per set (7^th). Zoe Hardin is tops in the conference with 1.43 blocks per set and averages 2.56 kills per set (16^th). Molly Howard averages .64 blocks per set (15^th) and produces an average of 3.58 kills per set (6^th).
 
Fans can follow live stats for the SAU/Harding match here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/saumag/wvball/ and watch live via Livestream here: http://livestream.com/accounts/10140781.
 
For Southern Arkansas, they are also preparing for a busy weekend as they are set to compete in the Missouri S&T Tri-Match in Rolla, Missouri, against University of Missouri-St. Louis (6-7) and host-MUST (9-5). Both teams compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and are tied for third in the Western Division with 2-2 conference records.
 
UMSL averages 17.48 digs per set, the fourth-best mark in the GLVC, but allows opponents to hit an average of .218 (14^th) against them in 44 sets played. Missouri S&T has held opponents to a hitting percentage of .168 (7^th), while swinging at a clip of .197 (8^th) in 52 sets played.
 
First-serve from Rolla, Missouri, is set for 3:45 p.m. against Missouri-St. Louis and will be followed by a 7:30 first-serve with host-Missouri S&T. Fans can follow all the action via live stats here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/mst/wvball/.
 
Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for all pregame news, postgame results and other updates regarding head coach Steven Gream and the 2015 Lady Mulerider Volleyball team.