MAGNOLIA, Ark. – In their final tune-up before their Great American Conference-opening clash with Arkansas Tech on Tuesday, September 15, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team will hit the road for Ada, Oklahoma, to compete in the two-site Tiger/Savage Storm Classic hosted by East Central University and Southeastern Oklahoma University on Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12.
Southern Arkansas will play a pair of games on both Friday and Saturday on Wayne Cobb Court in Ada. The Lady Muleriders (3-2) open tournament play at noon on Friday against Texas A&M-Commerce, followed by a 5 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma Panhandle State. Under head coach
Steven Gream, the Lady Muleriders are 2-1 against TAMCU including a pair of four-set wins in Gream's first year (2010) and a five-set loss on the road to the Lady Lions last season.
SAU has two previous meetings with OPSU under Gream's direction that resulted in three-set wins in 2011 and 2012.
On Saturday, the Lady Muleriders begin play at 10 a.m. against Cameron University, before ending their tournament stay with a 2 p.m. rematch with William Jewell College, who defeated SAU in four sets at the UAH Volleyball Classic this past weekend. In the previous three contests with Cameron, the SAU program is 1-2 dating back to 2010 and 2011 that includes two five-set matches.
Against WJC last weekend, three of the four sets were decided by two points. Southern Arkansas attacked at a season-low .128 attack percentage, but registered a season-high 64 digs.
Through five games, four Lady Muleriders have 39 or more kills led by senior outside hitter
Shelby Lauterbach's 43. Sophomore outside hitter
Alli O'Banion is second with 42 kills, followed by senior middle hitter
Emilie Aase's 41 and junior outside hitter
Serena LeDuff's 39. Aase is leading the GAC in hitting percentage at a clip of .383 through 17 sets played, while LeDuff boast the sixth-best kills per set at a mark of 3.55.
Coming off her first double-double of the season, senior setter
Taylor Reaume has been vital in spreading out the offense as her 181 assists are the second-highest total in the GAC and her average of 10.06 assists per set is the third-best mark in the conference.
Junior defensive specialist
Paige Mays leads the Lady Muleriders in service aces with 11, followed by senior defensive specialist
Allie Cecil's nine; the third and seventh best marks in the GAC respectively.
Junior libero
Hannah Rice has collected 61 digs through 17 sets, the tenth-best GAC average for digs per set at 3.59.
As a team, Southern Arkansas has held opponents to the second-lowest hitting percentage in the conference at a mere .154. After the first weekend of play, the Lady Muleriders are in the top-five in five GAC categories including service aces with a league-leading 48 at 2.67/set.
Fans interested in following the live stats of all four Lady Mulerider games on Friday and Saturday can do so here:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/ecok/wvball/ and can watch all of Saturday's action live here:
http://www.ecutigers.com/watch/?Live=149. Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for up-to-date news on the Lady Mulerider Volleyball program as well as pregame and postgame coverage and other updates on players and coaches.
