MONTICELLO, Ark. – Sophomore outside hitter Landry Rogers recorded her 26^th career match with double figure kills and her fourth with 20 or more, classmate Anna Crittenden followed with 14 kills at an attack clip of .462; the highest by a Mulerider in a Great American Conference road match since 2018, and Southern Arkansas earned its sixth win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday night from inside Steelman Fieldhouse. The Muleriders move to 6-8 overall and 4-9 in league play and remain in the hunt for the postseason tournament. UAM drops to 10-17 overall and 4-10 in GAC action.
 
Southern Arkansas trailed 24-23 in the opening frame of the squad's 13^th league match of the season, but recorded the set's final three points as a bad set by the Blossoms was coupled with an ace off the serve of sophomore Samantha Still and a set-clinching kill by Rogers on an assist from junior Morgan Schuster to give the Muleriders an early advantage.
 
UAM responded and used an 8-2 run midway through set two to earn a 25-20 win and even the match at a set apiece. The Blossoms then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set three, but the serve of junior Sakura Thomas welcomed in six of SAU's points on a 7-0 run which was a part of a 9-1 streak that placed the Muleriders out front 10-6.
 
Arkansas-Monticello answered and pulled to within a point of the SAU lead twice before tying the match at 20, but kills by Crittenden and sophomore Lauryn Moultrie and two from Rogers highlighted a back-and-forth ending to the third set that sent SAU up 2-1.
 
The host tied the fourth frame at 5, but SAU proceeded to use a 6-0 run with the final five points coming off the serve of Moultrie and included three kills from Rogers. UAM narrowed the margin to two four times down the stretch, but the Muleriders leaned into their top attackers as Crittenden and Rogers combined for the final five points as the former notched the first two kills and the latter finished off the Blossoms with three more including back-to-back put aways to give SAU its sixth win of the campaign which matches its win total from the previous two seasons combined.
 
In addition to the fine nights had by Rogers and Crittenden, Moultrie added eight kills and Schuster led with 29 assists as she topped 2,700 for her career. Junior Emily Larmeau followed with 16 helpers. Thomas' 16 digs were a team-high as were her two service aces. Junior Mackensie Williams added ten digs.
 
The Muleriders hit .229 on the night; its fourth highest attack percentage of the season and second-highest in GAC play. Rogers' 23 kills were produced at .255, while Crittenden's ambidextrous effort notched her seventh match this season with double figure kills. Familiarity breeds contempt, but there is no disregarding the impact those two Muleriders had in helping SAU wither the Blossoms twice in 2022. In two matches against UAM, Rogers hit .272 in 81 attempts with 34 kills, while Crittenden hit .455 with 28 kills.
 
The crown of the Muleriders' season is now bejeweled with a pair of wins over its bitter league rival as Tuesday night's outcome gives SAU its first Great American Conference sweep of an opponent since the 2015 campaign when the Muleriders took both matches from Arkansas-Monticello, Harding and Henderson State. The victory also snaps a six match losing streak for SAU at Monticello as the previous road win came in a straight-sets decision on September 29, 2015.
 
Southern Arkansas returns to the W.T. Watson Center for the first of two remaining home games this season. The Muleriders welcome in Arkansas Tech on Thursday, October 27 in a 6 p.m. first serve. The Golden Suns swept SAU in Russellville on September 6 to open league play. ATU is currently one game up on the Muleriders in the league win column and holding the eighth spot in the conference standings. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.