Magnolia, Ark. - Mulerider Volleyball will head north once again for two Oklahoma matchups this week. GAC play will take them to Durant on Thursday, October 13 to face Southeastern Oklahoma State and Ada on Friday, October 14 for a matchup with East Central. SAU will look to pick up their first conference win since September 22, where they dominated league-rival Henderson State.
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
SOSU brings a 3-17 (1-8 GAC) record into Thursday's matchup against SAU. Southeastern has lost five of their last six matchups, with all of the contests being against GAC rivals. The Savage Storm enters the matchup in Magnolia following a straight-set loss to Ouachita this past Friday.
SOSU's only conference win this year has come in the form of a 3-2 win over Henderson State in Arkadelphia last Thursday, October 6.
Southeastern's D'Nari Mills ranks 3rd in the GAC with her average 3.57 kills per set and 5th in points (3.84 avg/set) while teammate Peyton Kriegel has recorded 28 services aces on the season to land herself in the top ten in the GAC at 9th place. Mills has recorded 250 kills on the season, followed by Jessica Hardin who has also passed the 100+ mark (120). McKenzie Turkoly leads the Savage Storm with her 340 assists while Ruthie Forson has notched 266. Five players have recorded over 100 digs, Patience Lewis (211), Amaya Constantino (200), Mills (198), Kriegel (161) and Turkoly (126).
East Central University
The Tigers enter the week with an 8-14 (4-5 GAC) record, and will take on University of Arkansas at Monticello before making the trip to Magnolia on Friday.
East Central's most recent outing finished with a come-from-behind 3-2 win (20-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-8) over Henderson State last Friday, October 7. Tigers Emma Strickland recorded 23 kills in the contest while teammate Nyah Walker recorded 21. Leah Lawson recorded an impressive 59 assists and Alejandra Delgado notched 42 digs between the five sets.
Strickland has the second most kills in the conference, averaging 3.76 per set. Lawson Ranks 5th, one spot above Mulerider Morgan Schuster, with an average 9.62 assists per set while also ranking 2nd with an average 4.12 points per set. Delgado ranks 2nd with her average 5.39 digs per set.
Junior Landry Rogers leads the Mulerider with 195 kills and 3.05 kills per set, a feat that places her sixth in the conference. Her 195 kills make her the only Mulerider to have passed the 100+ kills mark. She also has the most total attacks on the season with 578, a number that is more than double any other Mulerider.
Junior Morgan Schuster is having herself another dominant season, and continues to extend the career assists record, recording 446 on the year. Schuster's offensive domination is not due solely to her improvise assists number as she has also recorded a team-leading 14 service aces.
On the defensive side of play, five Muleriders have recorded 100+ digs on the season, and are led by Junior Sakura Thomas' 179. Sophomore Samantha Still sits behind Thomas with 154, followed by Rogers (140), Schuster (135) and Williams (104).
Sophomore Lauryn Moultrie has collected 41 blocks to lead the Muleriders while sophomore Isla Olivas sits three behind with 38.
First serve is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday and 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
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