MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Volleyball team will travel back into Oklahoma this weekend for a pivotal two-match Great American Conference swing with Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Lady Muleriders (10-8, 3-2 GAC) open up this weekend's conference slate in Weatherford for a 6 p.m. matchup with SWOSU, before traveling north into Alva for an early 11 a.m. first-serve with Northwestern.
 
SAU is currently in a five-way tie for third-place in a very tight Great American Conference race. Southwestern Oklahoma State (8-7, 3-2 GAC) is also among the five teams in the midst of a third-place tie, while Northwestern (5-10, 2-3 GAC) is in eighth place, but only a game out from the third-place gridlock.
 
For the Lady Muleriders, they currently rank in the GAC's top three in every major offensive category including hitting percentage (2^nd/.214), assists (3^rd/11.87), kills (3^rd/12.74) and service aces (1^st/1.74). Three Lady Muleriders rank in the top-20 of the GAC in hitting percentage led by senior Emilie Aase's 14^th-best mark of .263, followed by junior Kaitlyn Reiner (16^th/ .248) and sophomore Alli O'Banion (20^th/ .231).
 
Senior setter Taylor Reaume enters this weekend averaging 10+ assists per set with the GAC's second-best mark of 10.13, while leading the conference with 699 kills.
 
Junior Serena LeDuff owns the fifth-best kills per set average at 3.60, while senior Shelby Lauterbach (15^th) and O'Banion (20^th) combine to average 2.55 kills per set. Pacing a team that is tied for 23^rd in the nation in service aces is junior Paige Mays averaging a fourth-best mark of .42 per set. Junior Gillian Newman and senior Allie Cecil are tied for 9^th at a per-set clip of .32, followed by LeDuff, who averages .31 service aces per set.
 
Defensively, junior Hannah Rice averages 5.32 digs per set; the third-best average in the GAC. Newman and Reiner pace the blocking attack for the Lady Muleriders as the duo combines to average .68 blocks apiece.
 
Southwestern attacks opponents at an average of .191 per match, while Northwestern swings it at a clip of .165. The Bulldogs allow opponents to attack at an average of .202 per match, while the Rangers boast the second-best opponent attacking percentage of .174 in 54 sets played.
 
Both of Southern Arkansas' weekend opponents rank in the middle of the GAC pack in assists, kills and blocks. Southwestern Oklahoma and Northwestern boast top-four rankings in service aces as the Bulldogs fall right behind SAU with the second-best service ace per set mark of 1.60, while Northwestern is fourth in the GAC at 1.52 service aces per set.
 
Fans interested in following Friday night's matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma can do so here via live stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/swosu/wvball/ and through live video here: http://livestream.com/accounts/5503429. For Saturday morning's first-serve at Northwestern, live stats are available here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nwosu/wvball/ as well as live video here: http://riderangersride.com/showcase.
 
Be sure to check out muleriderathletics.com for future Lady Mulerider Volleyball updates, pregame releases, postgame results and the coach's show with Head Coach Steven Gream.