MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Volleyball team will begin postseason play for the fifth-straight year as they enter Thursday night's Great American Conference Tournament presented by Subway as the fourth seed with a scheduled 7:30 p.m. first-serve against the fifth-seeded Harding Bisons inside Bank of the Ozarks Arena. 
 
The Lady Muleriders (18-13, 9-7 GAC) are looking for their first-ever GAC Championship, but will have to survive a three-day, single elimination format tourney that has been claimed by Arkansas Tech in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and by Harding in 2012. Southern Nazarene is the only other school in the league to have competed in the finals of the tournament, having done so last year in a 3-2 defeat by Tech.
 
Southern Arkansas enters tournament play ranked in the league's top-four in every statistical category except blocks. Harding is tops in that category averaging over two blocks per set. SAU places fourth in hitting percentage (.214) and also holds opponents to the fourth-lowest attack percentage (.172) in the conference.
 
A pair of All-GAC performers lead the Lady Mulerider offensive attack as junior outside hitter Serena LeDuff and senior setter Taylor Reaume have helped place SAU second in the GAC in kills per set (12.76) and assists per set (12.07), respectively. Four Lady Muleriders rank in the GAC's top-ten in service aces per set led by sophomore setter Savannah Pillow's fourth-best mark of .42, followed by junior Paige Mays (.33 – 6th), LeDuff (.32 – 8th) and senior Allie Cecil (.30 – 9th)
 
Defensively, Southern Arkansas is third in the league in digs per set with an average of 17.19, led by All-GAC defensive specialist Hannah Rice's 5.52 digs per set. They rank in the bottom half of the conference in blocks per set with a mark of 1.32, but have received resurgence up front by junior middle hitter Kaitlyn Reiner who has averaged 3.3 blocks per match in her last eleven starts and has registered 8 or more points/match in eight of those games including five matches of 10 or more points.
 
Reiner also boasts the ninth-best hitting percentage in the GAC at .283 including 127 kills. All-GAC selection Alli O'Banion has shouldered some of the load for SAU as she has 265 kills and 61 blocks. LeDuff, the GAC's Newcomer of the Year, is second in the league in points per set with 4.31.
 
For the Bisons, they are led by freshman Zoe Hardin, junior Sara Smith and senior Molly Howard. Hardin, a first-team All-GAC selection, is the only player in the league to average over one block per set this season. She also boasts the fourth-best hitting percentage in the GAC at .314 and the ninth-most points per set with 3.56. Smith, selected to the All-GAC Honorable Mention team, ranks second in hitting percentage in the GAC at .325. Howard is seventh in the conference in kills with 3.29 per set and ranks sixth in points per set with 3.81.
 
Harding places fifth in GAC in hitting percentage (.201), opponent hitting percentage (.173), assists (11.49) and digs (16.39). The Bisons are fourth in kills with a team-average per set of 12.36 and rank eight in service aces with 1.29 per set.
 
These two teams have played twice this season with Southern Arkansas claiming both matches beginning with a 3-0 sweep in Magnolia at the beginning of October, before sweeping the regular season series in a five-set victory at Harding in early November.
 
The 2015 GAC Volleyball Tournament Championship – Presented by Subway - begins at noon on Thursday from the Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs, Ark. The day begins with Northwestern Oklahoma State, making its GAC Championship debut, facing Southwestern Oklahoma State. Southern Nazarene and Ouachita follow at 2:30 p.m. The top-seeded Golden Suns take on Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. and the first day concludes with Southern Arkansas and Harding at 7:30 p.m. All matches will air on GACSportsNetwork.com and fans can visit the tournament home page for live stat links and other information on the 2015 tournament.
 
Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com to keep up-to-date with the Lady Muleriders as they begin play in the 2015 GAC Tournament.