MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Mulerider Volleyball is back in town for the weekend as they continue conference play against Sooner State foes Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central. Southern Arkansas is set to compete against the Savage Storm on Thursday, October 5 at 6:00 p.m. On Friday, SAU will take on the Tigers of East Central inside the W.T. Watson Center at 4:00 p.m.
 
Head Coach Alli O'Banion's Muleriders are coming off a split weekend in which they suffered a tough road loss to Henderson State on Tuesday, but would bounce back with a sweeping victory over Ouachita Baptist on Thursday.
 
WHO TO LOOK FOR
Earning her first GAC weekly honor, Lauryn Moultrie received the league's defensive player of the week title after her showings against the Clark County foes. Moultrie last week recorded 12 blocks (5 solo | 7 assisted), ten kills, and one service ace. Moultrie leads the Muleriders in blocks per set with 0.95 per set (3^rd GAC). Kayte Delong led the offensive attack last week with 22 kills in which she recorded a new career high against OUA (14 kills). She tallied up a .481 attack percentage in that same match. Delong is currently tenth in the conference in hitting percentage with .276. Isla Olivas lead SAU with her hitting percentage though with .283 (9^th GAC). Orchestrating the offense is Morgan Schuster and Macie Shaver with the senior recording 38 assists last week and the junior 32. Schuster is also tied at the top of the conference in total service aces as she had tallied 26.
 
Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-10 | 1-4 GAC)
The Savage Storm are coming off a three-game losing streak to Oklahoma Baptist, East Central, and Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Last fall, Southern Arkansas bested Southeastern Oklahoma in a five-set thriller for the Muleriders fourth win of the 2022 campaign. In the contest, Schuster recorded 58 assists… Moultrie tallied 18 kills… Landry Rogers put down 16 kills.
 
The Savage Storm ranks third in the GAC in aces per set with 1.72 and in team kills with 752 (32^nd nationally). The team also ranks fourth in the league in team service aces with 105.
 
Southeastern Oklahoma's Peyton Kriegel ties with Schuster for 26 service aces in the campaign. D'Nari Mills leads the GAC in total attacks with 743 (2^nd nationally). Mills also lead the conference in statistics such as total kills (312 | 1^st nationally), kills per set (5.11 | 2^nd nationally), and points per set (5.60 | 2^nd nationally)
 
East Central (7-9 | 2-3 GAC)
East Central have been victors of their last two contest over Southeastern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Southern Arkansas has dropped the last two matches to the Tigers 0-3 and seek to end the streak. The Muleriders last defeated the East Central in 2019 3-1 while on the road at Ada, Oklahoma.
 
The Tigers are ranked fifth in the league in team total blocks as they have been responsible for 114.0 this season. ECU sits at sixth in team assists with 663 (50^th nationally) in 2023.
 
Emma Strickland leads the attack for East Central as she has recorded 632 attacks this campaign (2^nd GAC | 16^th nationally). Strickland also ranks second in the conference in total kills (240 | 11^th nationally), kills per set (3.93 | 29^th nationally), and points per set (4.25 | 43^rd nationally).
 
As stated previously, Southern Arkansas is set to face-off with the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm Thursday, October 5 at 6:00 p.m. On Friday, the Muleriders will stay inside the chaotic W.T. Watson Center to take on the East Central Tigers at 4:00 p.m. For more information on these events, check out www.MuleriderAthletics.com.