MAGNOLIA, Ark. – After a week off, the Southern Arkansas volleyball team is ready to hit the court once more this evening as they take on Ouachita in a Great American Conference match inside the W.T. Watson Center.
The Lady Muleriders (4-6, 0-1 GAC) opened GAC play last week at home against defending GAC regular season and tournament champion Arkansas Tech. That match would go to five sets with the Golden Suns edging out the Lady Muleriders 15-13 in the final set. Statistically, the Lady Muleriders would have four players record double-digit kills in the match with
Serena LeDuff leading the way with 16 kills.
On the year, LeDuff leads the team in kills with 116 and ranks eighth in the GAC in kills per set with 3.52. Also ranking in the top-10 in the GAC in major statistical categories for the Lady Muleriders are
Emilie Aase,
Paige Mays,
Taylor Reaume,
Kaitlyn Reiner and
Hannah Rice.
Aase is fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.339) while Mays and Reaume also rank fourth in their respective categories. For Mays, she ranks fourth in service aces (20) and Reaume ranks fourth in assists (385 | ). Rice's 194 digs on the year rank her sixth in the GAC and Reiner's 19.0 blocks have her slotted 10th in the league.
As far as SAU's opponent tonight, Ouachita, the Tigers will enter play with a 6-3 record and are 1-0 in the GAC after sweeping Arkansas-Monticello in their GAC-opener last week.
Statistically, the Tigers currently lead the GAC in hitting percentage at .243 while also limiting their opponents to a .174 attack percentage to rank third in the GAC. Additionally, the Tigers rank second in the league in two other major offensive categories, assists (352 | 12.6 a/s) and kills (374 | 13.4 k/s).
Individually, the Tigers are led by senior Abby Pickett and sophomore Kori Bullard. Both Pickett and Bullard rank in the top-five in GAC in hitting percentage while also ranking in the top-10 in kills. Pickett, a two-time GAC Offensive Player of the Week in the early season leads the league in both stat categories. The Tigers also have a stat leader in Stormi Leonard as she currently leads the GAC in assists (293 | 11.3 a/s).
First-serve for the match tonight is set for 6:30 p.m.
