MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Southern Arkansas closed out its third weekend of the 2023 season at the Warhawk Invitational hosted by Auburn University-Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Muleriders wrapped up their time in the Yellowhammer State winning three of the four matches presented to them. The squads record has now advanced to 6-7, the most wins in the first 13 matches since the 2015 campaign (7-6 in first 13 matches). Second-year head coach Alli O'Banion has now tied her win column of six wins from her first year thanks to the 3-1 record on the weekend. This also marks the first time the Muleriders have finished a non-conference tournament with a positive record since the Union University Volleyball Invitational in 2021 (2-1).
Southern Arkansas started the weekend off right going 2-0 in day one sweeping Miles College (3-4 | 1-0 SIAC) and winning a five-set barn burner against former Gulf South Conference opponent West Georgia (6-3 | 0-0 GSC).
On Saturday, the Muleriders once again started the day with a victory as they defeated Albany State (3-8 | 3-0 SIAC) three sets to one. For the final match of the weekend, SAU was paired up against the host Auburn-Montgomery (10-2 | 0-0) which resulted in the only defeat (0-3) for Coach O'Banion's crew at the Invite.
Vs. Miles College
What looked to be a challenge for Coach O'Banion's Muleriders with a 25-23 set one victory, turned into a triumph via sweep after Southern Arkansas saw improvement each set.
In the first set, the offensive power seemed endless for both squads. There wasn't any room to breathe with both teams seamlessly scoring at will. The set was tied at 23 a piece, but would be decided by an Ava Tanner kill with assistance from Landry Rogers which was then followed by a Morgan Schuster kill assisted by Rogers again.
In the second set, both teams were back to another shootout for the first half of the set. When the score reached 13-13, Southern Arkansas opened the floodgates with a 12-3 run to close out set two 25-16.
The final set of the match was all Muleriders. Right out of the gate, SAU went ahead 3-0 and never looked back. Southern Arkansas extended its lead to 11-3 that would be followed by a Miles resurgence to make it 11-6. The resurgence was very short-lived as SAU would conclude the match with a 14-3 run (25-9).
For the first match of the weekend, Jada Hudson (8 kills) and Tanner (7 kills) led the team in kills with each player scoring 8.0 total points. Macie Shaver took the lead in orchestrating the offense as she recorded 19 assists against Miles with Schuster creating 12 of her own. Mary Insalaco led in digs once again with 18 of the receptions. Holding down the frontline was Lauryn Moultrie with three total blocks (1 solo | 2 assisted).
Vs. West Georgia
Southern Arkansas faced off against West Georgia for the first time since losing to the Wolves in 2014 two sets to three. With the win, SAU continues to claim a series lead over UWG before the university makes its transition to the NCAA DI level. The matchup between old GSC rivals showed just as much promise as anyone could have hoped for. Both groups were trading blows back-and-forth with what seemed like no end in sight.
In set one Southern Arkansas earned the early lead after looking like they were going to control the entire match with a 25-18 victory. The 1-0 match lead was finalized due to a 7-0 run that was led by the Magnolia, Arkansas native Carlin Whaley with three kills.
In the second set, West Georgia retaliated with its own set win thanks to a 4-0 run at the 7-8 mark. With the lead, the Wolves would respond every point from SAU with their own to win set two 22-25.
The third set was nothing but a battle to the very end. Both teams responded with an equal retaliation back-and-forth. Southern Arkansas jumped out to a 23-19 lead over the Wolves, but the gap would be closed with a UWG 3-0 run. Each squad would give up a service error to make it 24-23 which would then be followed by an attack error from West Georgia for Southern Arkansas to claim the third set.
The two evenly matched groups kept it that way with another down to the wire set in the fourth. The Wolves once again came back with a set win of their own to tie the match at 2-2 after winning set four 23-25.
The fifth set never saw the Muleriders behind from the get-go with an early four-point lead. Southern Arkansas secured the match thanks to a 4-2 final run from an 11-11 tie to a 15-13 set five and match win.
Whaley (career-high 16 kills) and Tanner both had the hot-hand on the offensive side of the net with a combined 32 kills. Both Schuster and Shaver recorded season-highs of 26 assists each in the five-set contest. The Fort Worth native, Isla Olivas led the team in total blocks with three assisted blocks. Tanner had her share of digs with 14 (led team).
Vs. Albany State
Coach O'Banion did not necessarily have the start she wanted against the Golden Rams on Saturday after dropping the first set, but gathered her team together and fixed previous mistakes to rattle off three consecutive set wins for the Muleriders sixth win of the season.
The first set saw many runs for ASU that consisted of four or more consecutive points without an answer to aid the Golden Rams to claim set one 18-25.
Both squads played a very evenly matched second set till SAU faced a 9-11 deficit. An Albany State service error began a Mulerider 11-0 run that gave Southern Arkansas the momentum they searched for in game three. Thanks to the new nine point lead, the Muleriders cruised to a 25-19 set two victory.
With momentum found, Coach O'Banion's crew never took their foot off the gas as they recorded three bursts of 4+ point runs to win set three 25-13.
In set four, Southern Arkansas started hot and never seemed to cool off as they recorded a 5-0 run off the bat for the fourth set. The Muleriders extended their lead to as much as nine, but the Golden Rams kept fighting to make their deficit five points apart. Albany State could not surpass that deficit though which would later turn into a ten point victory at 25-15 to close out game three in Montgomery, Alabama.
Rogers led the offense with 13 kills in the Saturday opener. Schuster set up 24 assists in the contest, but on her 19th assist she recorded her 3,000th career assist to become the program's only player to break the 3K mark for assists. Rogers, Moultrie, and Dauenhauer all led the team in service aces with three. Moultrie also secured the front line with six assisted blocks with Delong recording just one less at five assisted blocks. Native of Bellinzago Novarese, Italy, Alessia Sonzini led the team in digs with 11.
Vs. Auburn-Montgomery
In the contest against the invite host, Southern Arkansas could not come up with a set win over the Warhawks. Auburn-Montgomery did not lose a single set during the weekend as it showed its home-court advantage.
Moutlrie led SAU in kills as she recorded eight in the afternoon. Schuster (11) and Shaver (10) set the ball for kills on 21 occasions. Olivas, Whaley, and Delong all recorded two blocks each.
Southern Arkansas jumps back into conference play on Tuesday, September 19 against the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns in Magnolia, Arkansas at 6:00 PM. For more information on this matter, check out www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
