MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The slate is clean, the time is now and a new era of Southern Arkansas Volleyball is set to commence on Friday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri as first-year Mulerider head coach
Alli O'Banion leads her squad into the opening weekend of action for the 2022 season. SAU is set for a pair of matches on both Friday and Saturday at the Triton Invitational hosted by Missouri-St. Louis from inside the Mark Twain Building. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Tabbed as the program's ninth head coach of its NCAA Era on December 8, 2021, the three-time All-Great American Conference selection as a Mulerider, O'Banion returned to a familiar stomping ground in Magnolia with the task of resurrecting a program that had fallen on hard times after recording just 17 wins following her senior season of 2017.
Southern Arkansas opens the season with a 12:30 p.m. first serve against Missouri S&T and will follow that action with a 5:30 p.m. start against the host (RV) Tritons. On Saturday, the Muleriders meet Emporia State at 9 a.m., while an 11:30 a.m. start against Saint Leo wraps up the weekend.
The Muleriders carry a 20-player roster to Missouri which includes two-time All-GAC setter
Morgan Schuster who recorded 844 assists last season and became just the fifth player in program history to eclipse 2,000 helpers in a career.
Half of the team's top four attackers in terms of kills from last fall return in
Landry Rogers and
Isla Olivas. Rogers led the team in total attacks last season. Olivas' attack clip of .229 is tops among all returners and was the second-best on the team in '21 as were her 0.56 blocks per set.
The Muleriders will again benefit from the services of three players that all had 20 service aces in Rogers, Schuster and
Alexa Heard. The Muleriders return three players that had 200+ digs, as
Bailey Kirk led the team with 245, while
Samantha Still (240) and Schuster (208) followed.
O'Banion and assistant coach
Brook Conley bolstered the roster in the offseason with the addition of six new players which includes a trio of junior college transfers as well as Georgia State transfer
Lauryn Moultrie.
Missouri S&T
*Miners went 19-11 in 2021 with a berth in the GLVC Tournament
*S&T returns two All-GLVC performers in outside hitter Jordan Burton and middle hitter Shelby Ply
*Two other starters return in setter Hannah Merjil and libero Meiko Pearson
*The most recent meeting between the two programs occurred on October 3, 2015 with the Miners edging SAU at home in five sets
(RV) Missouri-St. Louis
*Tritons posted a 25-9 record last fall; won 15 of 18 in GLVC play
*Lost in GLVC title game; advanced to second round in first-ever NCAA Midwest Regional appearance
*Three starters return from last year's team which won 20 games for the third time in five seasons
*Two All-GLVC performers are back in two-time GLVC Player of the Year Charlotte Richards and middle blocker Mya Elliot
*Southern Arkansas topped UMSL in five sets on October 3, 2015 in Rolla, Missouri in the last meeting between the programs
Emporia State
*Posted a 5-23 mark last fall with three wins in the highly-competitive MIAA
*The Hornets return five players that reached the century mark in kills as well as both setters that helped facilitate that attack. Orianna Clements returns after an All-MIAA campaign last fall.
*ESU and SAU meet for the first time on Saturday
Saint Leo
*Went 12-19 overall with six wins in Sunshine State Conference play
*Three of the Lions' top four attackers return as does the leading setter
*SLU and SAU meet for the first time on Saturday
