MAGNOLIA, Ark. — With the regular season finale set up in the W.T. Watson Center on Thursday night, Southern Arkansas controlled just one part of its destiny for a shot at a berth to the 2025 Great American Conference Tournament.
The Muleriders (13-18 | 6-10 GAC) took on their in-state rival Arkansas-Monticello (3-24 | 0-16 GAC) with the hopes of a win over the Cotton Blossoms, and either a Southern Nazarene or East Central loss, the group could have their way to Shawnee, Oklahoma paved. Well, after the Muleriders went on to sweep UAM and a Southern Nazarene loss, Southern Arkansas has clinched its second GAC Tournament berth under the helm of fourth-year head coach Alli Harrell.
The last time the Muleriders clinched a spot in the GAC Tournament twice within three years was back in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Southern Arkansas earned its spot in the tournament with great performances all around the court during senior night, as Kendall Toliver led the squad in scoring with 12 kills. The junior recorded just three attack errors and all within 30 attacks, as she went on to record a .300 hitting percentage. Toliver was also very effective on defense, as the 5'6" defensive specialist recorded two solo blocks.
Right behind the junior from Wichita Falls, Texas, was a junior Lufkin, Texas, Courtnee Morgan. Morgan accounted for 11 kills with just one attack error, all on only 15 attacks to record a .667 attack percentage, the game's best with at least 10 attacks.
Brinklee Dauenhauer saw a solid outing, as the junior from Springtown, Texas, tallied nine kills on her 31 attacks. An impressive feat for the Texan was her leading the game in service aces after recording three aces.
First Set (W, 25-14)
Southern Arkansas jumped out on top of the Cotton Blossoms early on in the opening set after going up 6-2 on UAM, all via kills. After a 3-0 run by Arkansas-Monticello (6-5), SAU began a stretch of its own with a 5-1 run, expanding the lead to 11-6. The Blossoms went on another 3-0 run before the Muleriders responded accordingly with a 9-2 stretch, bringing the group's advantage to 20-11. The Cotton Blossoms added three more points to their score due to a few attack errors, but it was all for not after Southern Arkansas went on to shut down any signs of a comeback, winning the set 25-14.
Second Set (W, 25-18)
The Muleriders kicked off the following set much like the group did in the first, as SAU went up 9-3 on the Cotton Blossoms. Southern Arkansas kept its large lead, expanding to 13-6, but UAM showed retaliation with a 5-0 stretch for a 13-11 score. With Arkansas-Monticello looking to gain momentum back, the Muleriders expelled that flame with a 4-0 stretch to jump the Muleriders' lead back to six points at 18-12. Southern Arkansas kept up the large lead, growing as large as 21-13. Once again, UAM did not go away without a fight, scoring five more points, but the Blue and Gold clinched the second set with a final of 25-18.
Third Set (W, 25-15)
The beginning to set three saw a much different start as Arkansas-Monticello hung right with the Muleriders before looking as if the group had gained all of the momentum with a 9-5 lead. The group seemed to have had all of the momentum until Southern Arkansas ripped off a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead at 12-9. From then on, the Muleriders never lost track of its advantage again and even expanded the group's lead with a 5-0 stretch to go up nine, 22-13). After a UAM kill, the Muleriders then had match point set up after back-to-back Toliver kills, 24-14. The Cotton Blossoms added on one more score via an attack error before surrendering the match due to an attack error of their own.
Next Up:
With the Muleriders win over the Cotton Blossoms and other results around the conference, Southern Arkansas will now prepare for the Great American Conference Tournament in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The group enters the bracket as the 8-seed and will face off against the 2025 Regular Season Champions, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers on Thursday (Nov. 20) at 3:00 PM.
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