MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The third weekend of the 2023 NCAA DII Volleyball season has arrived for Southern Arkansas as they prep for the seven-and-a-half-hour trip to the campus of Auburn University-Montgomery (Ala.) for the Warhawk Invitational (September 15-16). The Muleriders take their first, and only, trip to the Yellowhammer State to compete against foes such as Miles College, West Georgia, Albany State, and Auburn-Montgomery. Matches are set for 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM for both days. Live coverage will be provided on www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
Head coach Alli O'Banion and her Muleriders are coming off their GAC/home opener of 2023 against the league's preseason favorite in Harding on Tuesday night. The second-year head coach's crew pushed the Lady Bisons to send all they had against the preseason tenth ranked team in the conference that resulted in a 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 11-25) victory for Harding. Southern Arkansas' second set win was the largest margin of victory over Harding since a 25-13 third set win over the Lady Bisons on October 21, 2014.
 
O'Banion looks to rely on her heavy-hitters from Tuesday night in juniors Kayte Delong (7 kills), Landry Rogers (6 kills), and Jada Hudson (6 kills). The trio combined for a total of 19 kills and 22.0 points. Rogers, Lauryn Moultrie, Morgan Schuster, and Mary Insalaco each tacked on a service ace to their stat sheets. Schuster led her team with 17 assists and now only seeks 57 more to reach 3,000 in her career. The Arlington, Texas native was not the only one serving them up as the junior transfer Macie Shaver put up 13 of the 37 total assists.
 
Insalaco introduced herself to the chaotic W.T. Watson as she was on the receiving end of the Lady Bisons attacks for 24 digs. Schuster recorded 15 digs and Shaver put up 12. Moultrie was all over the net as she led with a game-high five blocks which aided the Muleriders 12 total blocks to Harding's nine.
 
Currently, Southern Arkansas is positioned at 17^th in the nation in team attacks with 1,229 which is also fourth in the conference. The Muleriders also rank 24^th in the nation (6^th GAC) in team digs with 527.
 
Miles College (2-1 | 1-0 SIAC)
 
Wins over Stillman College (0-8) and Tuskegee University (0-3)
 
*Second meeting between the Muleriders and Golden Bears since SAU won 3-0 on November 11, 2010. Southern Arkansas starts its weekend in Montgomery with Miles College Friday at 12:30 PM.
*Miles is hitting .305 as a team with six players recording above .300.
 
*Kiera Washington leads the team with 23 kills and ranks third in nation with a hitting percentage of .500. Washington records the most service aces with six.
 
*Anya Creecy (36 assists) and Malena Catala (23 assists) navigate the offensive attack.
 
*Washington (22 digs), Chaiza Jones (20 digs), and Kayla Trawick (15 digs) keep the defensive side of the net under control.
 
*Holding the defensive wall for the Golden Bears is Kayla Johnson (1 solo block | 3 assisted blocks).
 
West Georgia (4-2 | 0-0 GSC)
 
Wins over Southern Wesleyan University (1-5), Albany State (3-5), Concord University (7-3), and Emory & Henry College (2-6)
 
*This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs. The Wolves were the last to had victory over the Wolves 3-1 September 6, 2014. SAU leads series 2-1. The two squads are set to compete Friday at 3:00 PM.
 
*West Georgia is hitting .213 with five players recording 30+ kills
 
*Zoe LeBreche leads the Wolves with 95 kills and ranks first the Gulf South Conference in total kills. In total points, she is ranked 11^th in DII volleyball with 5.02.
 
*Ashley Barnes (124 assists) and Desha Van Veldhuizen (106) work the offensive attack.
 
*LeBreche ranks 26^th nationally with recorded service aces as she has put down 18 totals. She ranks ninth in the nation in aces per set at 0.75.
 
*The Wolves list five players with 10+ total kills including 56^th nationally ranked Sanai Young with 31.0.
 
Albany State (3-5 | 3-0 SIAC)
 
Wins against Savannah State (4-1), Allen University (4-2), and Clark-Atlanta University (2-3)
 
*This will the fourth matchup between these two programs with Southern Arkansas claiming the last three. The two teams have not seen each other since September 9, 2006 (SAU 3-0). The Muleriders are 9-0 in sets against the Golden Rams. The contest will take place Saturday at 12:30 PM.
 
*The Golden Rams hitting percentage rests at .124 with two players recording 70+ kills.
 
*Jarianis Perez (79 kills) and Sydney Melton (72 kills) are the fire power for the ASU offense.
 
*Natalie Onozie is the Golden Rams' top setter with a total of 143 assists over eight games.
 
* Onozie and Kaylin Teasley have both recorded 13 service aces.
 
*Teasley (24 blocks) and Khamari Trotter (20 blocks) hold down the net for the Golden Rams
 
Auburn-Montgomery (7-2 | 0-0 GSC)
 
Wins against Newberry College (1-9), Belmont Abbey (0-8), Albany State (3-5), and Rollins College (5-4)
 
*This will be the first meeting between the Muleriders and Warhawks. Southern Arkansas will cap off its weekend on Saturday at 3:00 PM against the host of the invite.
 
*The Warhawks have a hitting percentage of .213 through nine matches while only allowing an opposing hitting percentage of .081 (6^th nationally | 1^st GSC).
 
*AUM ranks 26^th in the nation for service aces with a total of 67 while also being 24^th in DII with 2.31 aces per set.
 
*The invitational host has five players with 40+ kills in which four have recorded 2+ kills per set: Ruth Sconocchini (78 kills | 2.69 k/s), Alessia Cappai (76 kills | 2.71 k/s), Myllena Torquetti (59 kills | 2.03 k/s), Giulia Santuari (57 kills | 2.28 k/s).
 
*Auburn-Montgomery has two competitors with 100+ assists on the season in Amber Bretwisch (142) and Savannah Sebek (115).