MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team enters the final week of their 2017 season with a pair of Great American Conference matches beginning first with their final road test of the season tonight in Arkadelphia. It is "Senior Night" for Ouachita Baptist and the Lady Tigers carry an 18-10 record overall into Tuesday night's meeting with Southern Arkansas, who enters looking to snap a two match skid. Live coverage links of all the action can be found below or at www.muleriderathletics.com.
QUICK FACTS
- The Lady Muleriders (8-21, 1-13 GAC) are just 2-9 away from the W.T. Watson Center this season.
- SAU attacks .153 as a team averaging 11.3 kills per set, while owning top ten marks in the GAC in blocks per set (6th | 1.80) and service aces per set (8th | 1.28).
- Southern Arkansas and Ouachita have met 13 times since the two joined the Great American Conference in 2011. Ouachita holds an 8-5 lead during that span including having won three straight with a pair of victories in 2016 and a five-set win on the road in Magnolia in mid-September.
- Ouachita (18-10, 8-6 GAC) enters Tuesday night's showdown having won three matches in a row and if the season ended today would own the fifth seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament.
- The Lady Tigers own several top five statistical marks in the conference ranking third in both assists per set (12.23) and kills per set (13.13), fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.226), and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.180).
WHO TO WATCH
- Three Lady Muleriders have recorded 200 or more kills this season led by senior Alexia Southern's 286 at 2.72 kills per set. Senior Alli O'Banion (236) and sophomore Seven Powers (212) round out hitters with 200 or more kills, while freshman Bailey Cagle is fourth with 129 kills at a team-leading .248 hit clip.
- O'Banion has solidified her name among the top ten in several career statistical marks within the Lady Mulerider Volleyball program. She is currently the program's All-Time leader in Block Assists in the Rally Scoring Era with 268 total. The Dos Palos, California, native is just a dozen kills shy with two matches remaining of becoming the fifth SAU player in the RSE with 1,000 or more career kills. Earlier this season, O'Banion became just the third Lady Mulerider in the Rally Scoring Era to eclipse 300 career blocks and currently has 307.
- Within the Great American Conference, O'Banion's 307 career total blocks entering Tuesday night's contest are the fifth-most in league history, while her 988 kills are the ninth-most in the GAC's seven-year history. She could become just the eighth player in league history with 1,000 or more career kills.
- Newcomer Alexa Bass was scary good in the month of October as the Fort Worth, Texas native became just the third Lady Mulerider to record a triple-double in the RSE with a 10 kill, 29 assist, 10 dig effort vs. Oklahoma Baptist (10/13). The sophomore followed that performance up with a 14 kill, 38 assist, 11 dig showing at East Central (10/21) to become the first SAU player with two triple-doubles in the RSE. Only four triple-doubles have been recorded since 2000 in program history and Bass owns two of those, while falling three kills shy of her third such performance in SAU's most recent win over UAM. Bass is one of six players in GAC history to record two or more triple-doubles in a career.
- Over half of SAU's 10.53 assists per set come from Bass as she owns the league's tenth-best per set mark at 6.41. Senior Savannah Pillow adds 3.52 assists per set.
- Bass also leads six other Lady Muleriders in double digit service aces with 42. She currently ranks third in the GAC in service aces per set at 0.39.
- Cagle has played a pivotal role in SAU's front line defense during her freshman season as she leads the team with 88.0 total blocks at 0.83 per set. O'Banion follows with 73.0 total blocks, while freshman Lauren Smith (49.0), Southern (41.0), and Powers (36.0) have provided ample support for the Lady Muleriders' front line defense.
- Four Lady Muleriders have recorded 200 or more digs paced by sophomore Whitney Brown's 392 at 3.84 per set. Bass has added 257 digs with Southern (235) and sophomore Riley Marsh (218) also contributing in the backcourt.
OUACHITA BAPTIST
- Three OBU players have recorded 200 or more kills this season led by Adrianna Nolly's 267 at a team-best .327 among players with 50 or more kills. That attack percentage is the fourth-highest such mark in the conference. Paige Williams has registered 218 kills and Tabatha Huckabee follows with 211.
- Kori Bullard also owns a top ten attack clip with the seventh-best mark at .293, while her 3.05 kills per set rank ninth in the league.
- Stormi Leonard commands the Lady Tiger attack averaging the league's third-best assists per set clip at 10.61 and currently has recorded 1,072 assists this season; the second-most in the GAC.
- Nolly along with Bullard and Huckabee are the leading blockers for Ouachita with Nolly's 83.0 total blocks leading the team and her 0.86 blocks per set ranking eighth in the GAC, while Bullard has recorded 75.0 total blocks with Huckabee adding 45.0.
- Five players have registered ten or more service aces paced by Leonard's 21 at 0.21 per set. Leonard is also one of four Lady Tigers with 130 or more digs this season and is second on the team with 261. Nikki Clay leads the club with 477 digs at 4.63 per set; the seventh-best mark in the conference.
LIVE COVERAGE
HEAD TO HEAD
| Southern Arkansas |
Team Statistics |
Ouachita Baptist |
| 29 (108) |
Matches Played (Sets Played) |
28 (103) |
| 1,219 (11.3) |
Kills (Kills per Set) |
1,352 (13.1) |
| 642 |
Errors |
511 |
| 3,783 |
Total Attacks |
3,726 |
| .153 |
Attack Percentage |
.226 |
| 1,137 (10.5) |
Assists (Assists per Set) |
1,260 (12.2) |
| 138 (1.3) |
Aces (Aces per Set) |
115 (1.1) |
| 179 (1.7) |
Reception Errors (RE per Set) |
118 (1.1) |
| 1,642 (15.2) |
Digs (Digs per Set) |
1,729 (16.8) |
| 194.0 (1.8) |
Total Blocks (Blocks per Set) |
172.0 (1.7) |
Bold – League Leader
Italics – League's Top 5
