LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

 

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MATCH NOTES (PDF)  |  TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

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FIRST SERVE
For the first time in over a dozen years, a regular season volleyball tournament will be played inside the W.T. Watson Center as Southern Arkansas is set to host the inaugural Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational on Friday, September 15, and Saturday, September 16.

Joining the Lady Muleriders (3-9) in Magnolia will be Division I Grambling State (2-7), Arkansas-Monticello (4-4), Mississippi College (3-4), and Texas A&M-International (1-8).
    
Southern Arkansas dropped a three-set match to Arkansas Tech in the Great American Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday and looks to get back in the win column with three matches scheduled this weekend.
    
Through a dozen games, with the first 11 matches on the road, Southern Arkansas is attacking .136 and averaging 10.4 kills per set. Defensively, the Lady Muleriders average 12.8 digs per set and 1.8 blocks per set.
    
After an impressive weekend that led to her being named to the SEU Hilltopper Classic All-Tournament Team, sophomore outside hitter Seven Powers leads the team with 79 kills at 2.08 kills per set. Four other Lady Muleriders have recorded 50 or more kills. Sophomore setter Alexa Bass leads the team in assists with 241 and senior setter Savannah Pillow has added 90 assists. Bass has recorded ten service aces and is one of two Lady Muleriders with ten or more as freshman right side hitter Morgan Gross paces the team with 17 service aces. Senior middle hitter Alli O'Banion paces the front line defense with 36.0 total blocks at .88 per set. Four other players have recorded a dozen or more blocks as freshman middle hitter Bailey Cagle and senior outside hitter Alexia Southern as well as Powers and Gross have all combined for 71 total blocks. Sophomore Whitney Brown's 84 digs lead the team at 2.40 digs per set with four additional players having logged 60 or more digs this season.

Fans can follow live stats and live video of each of Southern Arkansas' three matches at the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational through links found at the tournament central page located under the volleyball tab at www.muleriderathletics.com.
    
Match recaps and stats will be made available on www.muleriderathletics.com as soon as possible following all of the matches.  
 

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

GRAMBLING STATE (2-7)
A familiar non-conference opponent for Southern Arkansas over the past couple of seasons, Friday morning's meeting will be the fourth consecutive year that SAU and Grambling State have played. The Lady Muleriders have won the past three meetings in nine sets. GSU, under the direction of head coach Demetria Keys-Johnson (7th season), enters with a 2-7 record overall with wins over Tougaloo College (MS) and Jarvis Christian College (TX). 

The Lady Tigers are led by a pair of players that have combined for over 100 kills. Chasity Nicks leads the team with 56 kills at 1.93 per set, while All-SWAC Preseason selection Kevreion Ward follows with 51 kills at 1.82 per set. Ward also leads the team in service aces with six, while L'Muriell Thrower adds five service aces and orchestrates the offense with a team-best 94 assists. Erineka Mollere's 91 digs are a team-high, while Desiree Bishop's 17.0 total blocks lead the team.

TEXAS A&M-INTERNATIONAL (1-8)
Southern Arkansas and Texas A&M-International will meet for the second time this season after the two programs played at the South Central Classic in Durant, Oklahoma, earlier this season. The Lady Muleriders came away with a four-set victory and the win currently stands as SAU's lone Division II victory so far this season. 

The Dustdevils are 1-8 in 2017 and have dropped their last four matches entering this weekend's Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational.

Panebi Shirey paces TAMIU with 66 kills and Yuliia Hupkovska (59) and Leah McManus (52) have each registered 50-plus kills this season. Hupkovska leads the team in service aces with 13 and owns the second-most digs with 73, while Shirey has recorded a team-best 17.0 total blocks. The Dustdevil offense undoubtedly runs through Ronnie Fountain who has recorded 207 assists this season, while Lacy Asdourian roams the backcourt with a team-leading 90 digs.

MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE (3-4)
Mississippi College and Southern Arkansas will meet for just the third time all-time when the two programs conclude play at the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational on Saturday at 3 p.m. Southern Arkansas leads the series 2-0. The Choctaws enter at 3-4 on the year and offensively are led by three players averaging at least two kills per set. Shelby Grace Mays leads MC with 71 total kills at 2.96 kills per set, with Kayana Mitchell and Krista Zieschang combining for 101 kills this season. Mays is the team leader in service aces with 15 and also leads seven players with 25 or more digs with a team-best 66. Mays owns the second-most total blocks behind Mitchell's 20.0 total blocks. Sydney Chandler and Amanda Torres are dually responsible for facilitating the Choctaw offense as they combine to lead the club with 212 total assists paced by Chandler's 116.
 

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PICKED ELEVENTH IN GAC
The Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders were picked to finish in 11th place this fall by the league's head coaches in the annual Great American Conference Preseason Coach's Poll. SAU looks to bounce back after a 9-21 campaign a year ago as they return eight lettermen and a pair of starters, while featuring a talented recruiting class that includes five "ready-to-play" freshmen and two "quick-impact" transfers.

SECOND TIME AROUND
SAU head coach Britney Davis prepares for her second season at the helm of the Lady Mulerider Volleyball program, which went 9-21 in Davis' first year. Twelve of SAU's 15 players were recruited by Davis, while returning All-GAC Honorable Mention selection Alli O'Banion and senior classmate Savannah Pillow have been with Davis since the latter's two year stint as a graduate assistant for the program. 

NEW FACES IMPACTING EARLY
Through twelve games in 2017, several newcomers have impacted the SAU program early. Freshman right side hitter Morgan Gross is tied for third on the team in kills (65), is third in kills per set (1.86), and is third in attack percentage (.185) behind a pair of rookie classmates: right side hitter Madi Pfeifer (43 kills | .264) and middle hitter Bailey Cagle (54 kills | .225). The trio has combined for 46 total blocks led by Cagle's 26, which is the second-most on the team, while Gross paces the squad with 17 service aces and owns the third-most digs with 69. Freshman Alana Perez has seen quality time as the libero and has registered 69 digs in 31 sets played. Sophomore setter Alexa Bass orchestrates the offense in her first year as a Lady Mulerider as she leads the team in assists with 241 at 6.03 assists per set. 

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
Southern Arkansas currently sits at 3-9 and 0-1 in Great American Conference play and owns wins over Williams Baptist, Texas A&M International and Central Baptist. The Lady Muleriders are in the midst of a five-game homestand after dropping their home-opener against Arkansas Tech on September 12.

SAU now turns its attention to the inaugural Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational; the first SAU-hosted Volleyball event in a dozen years. Southern Arkansas opens play at 10 a.m. on Friday, September 15, against Grambling State and will finish up with matches against Texas A&M-International and Mississippi College.

In mid-October, fans will be treated to a three-game home stand that includes a pair of league meetings with Oklahoma Baptist and reigning GAC Tournament Champion Southern Nazarene and a non-conference matchup with Central Baptist. Late down the stretch, SAU will end the regular season exactly how it started it: on the road. The Lady Muleriders play five of their final seven games, all league contests, away from the W.T. Watson Center, before the GAC Tournament on November 16-18.

HOT SPRINGS HOPEFUL
After narrowly missing out on the eighth and final spot in the 2016 Great American Conference Tournament at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Lady Muleriders have their eyes set on trip back to the Spa City, where in 2015 they reached the tournament championship match, before falling in four sets to Southwestern Oklahoma State. It marked the first tournament championship match the program had competed in since joining the GAC in 2011.