WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team dropped two three-set matches to a pair of nationally-recognized MIAA opponents on Saturday to conclude their stay at the Peggy Martin Crossover Challenge. SAU lost an early morning affair (17-25, 10-25, 20-25) to (RV) Northwest Missouri and an afternoon tilt (12-25, 17-25, 18-25) to #11 Central Missouri; which hosted the two-day event inside the UCM Multipurpose Building.
 
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS (3-9)
 

• Junior Alexia Southern led Southern Arkansas in kills in each match totaling 17, while junior Alli O'Banion added a collective 10 kills. Southern averaged a hit clip of .266 in the two matches.
• Freshman Katy Cooper led SAU with 28 assists in the loss to Northwest Missouri, while junior Savannah Pillow added a team-high 14 assists in the loss to Central Missouri.
• Junior Brittany Lampkin totaled five blocks combined in the two matches, while O'Banion and Pillow added three blocks each.
• The Lady Muleriders were led in digs by Paige Mays who recorded 27 total digs on the day, while SAU saw 11 players record at least one dig in the loss to Northwest Missouri.
• Freshman Seven Powers collected a career-high six kills and five digs in the loss to Central Missouri, while classmates Riley Marsh and Whitney Brown combined for 10 digs as four freshman saw action on Saturday.
• SAU attacked at an average of .108 on the day, totaling 194 total attacks.

 
(RV) NORTHWEST MISSOURI (10-0)
 

• Northwest Missouri tallied 11 blocks in the win, while SAU collected four blocks.
• The Bearcats swung at .297 or better in all three sets including a match high .400 in the second set.
• Darcy Sunderman recorded a game-high 12 kills.
• Gaby DaSilva logged four service aces and five blocks, while Jackie Becker also added five blocks.
• Sarah Dannettell produced a game-high 30 assists and finished with six digs.
• Maddy Bruder led the Bearcats with 10 digs.

 
#11 CENTRAL MISSOURI (9-2)
 

• The Jennies' lowest hit clip was .257; .050 percentage points higher than SAU's highest attack percentage, while UCM also produced a swing percentage of .464 in the opening set.
• Nineteen of UCM's 25 points in the third set came via kill.
• Cheyanne Lyons led the way for the Jennies with a game-high 14 kills, while collecting two blocks.
• Kourtney Thompson logged a game-high 34 assists, while finishing a dig shy of a double-double and adding a pair of service aces.
• Molly Lawrence led UCM in blocks with four, while Katie Carlson logged a team-high 16 digs.
• UCM was the second nationally-ranked team in as many weekends to matchup with the Lady Muleriders as SAU battled #10 Northern State a week ago at the Bettye Wallace Invite.

 
OF NOTE
 

• The Lady Muleriders' three opponents at the Peggy Martin Crossover Challenge (Newman, Northwest Missouri, Central Missouri) are now a combined 29-5 on the season with the latter two currently receiving mention in the AVCA Top-25.
• After this weekend, SAU has played two top-12 AVCA-ranked opponents (#10 Northern State & #11 Central Missouri) and an opponent currently receiving votes that will most likely enter the poll next week (Northwest Missouri). It had been since 2004 when SAU last played a ranked opponent and the program did it three times that season, suffering a trio of three-set losses to #3 Truman State, #9 Central Missouri, and #10 Grand Valley State.

 
UP NEXT

• Southern Arkansas turns their attention to a Great American Conference-heavy slate as they travel to Arkadelphia for a league matchup with Ouachita Baptist on Tuesday, September 20 at 6 p.m., before returning to Magnolia for the 2016 home opener against Henderson State on Thursday, September 22 at 7 p.m.
• Be sure to visit http://www.muleriderathletics.com/index.aspx?path=wvball for continuing coverage of Lady Mulerider Volleyball including pre- and post-game updates and the coach's show with Head Coach Britney Davis.