WEATHERFORD, Okla. – It was a tough afternoon on the third and final day of a three-day trek into the Sooner State for Mulerider Volleyball. Southern Arkansas dropped a three-set match to Southwestern Oklahoma State (8-8, 5-1 GAC) which entered tied for third in the Great American Conference standings and unbeaten at home. The Muleriders drop to 3-14 on the season with a 2-5 mark in league play. SAU returns home for two matches next week beginning with Oklahoma Baptist (12-8, 6-1 GAC) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 6 and then wrapping up with a 4 p.m. first serve against Southern Nazarene (9-9, 4-3 GAC) on Friday, October 7.
 
After equaling out in the hits and errors column in the opening set, the Muleriders attacked it well in sets two and three. SAU hit .304 in the second frame and .261 in set three. SWOSU hit .336 for the match with a dozen more kills than the Muleriders.
 
Southern Arkansas trailed 22-17 in set two and fought back to pull within 24-23, while the third set saw the Muleriders jump out to a 15-6 advantage before a 9-2 SWOSU run brought the host to within two points of the visiting lead, moments before a 7-1 run by the Bulldogs closed out the match.
 
One day after recording career-highs in kills and digs, sophomore Landry Rogers again led SAU in kills with a dozen and added seven digs. Sophomores Kayte Delong and Anna Crittenden both delivered nine kills. Junior Sakura Thomas took over the team lead in digs as her dozen gives her 152 for the season. Junior Morgan Schuster, who eclipsed 2,500 career assists on Thursday, added 20 more helpers to her career total. Junior Emily Larmeu followed with 12 assists. Thomas, along with sophomore Lauryn Moultrie, each recorded a pair of aces.