SHAWNEE, Okla. — Fourth-year Head Coach Alli Harrell and her Muleriders made their second appearance at the Great American Conference Championship Tournament in three years, as Southern Arkansas took on the reigning GAC Tournament Champions, and the brackets top seed, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. The group's met for the third time this season, and met in the GAC tournament for the first time. The matchup also marked the first time the two met in the Sooner State, and also just the second time that squad's faced each other outside of the Natural State.
The Muleriders saw a pair of double-double kill outing, as Brinklee Dauenhauer and Kendall Toliver both recorded 10 kills. The two both tallied double-doubles, as Dauenhauer was responsible for 17 digs and Toliver 10. Sadie Kabisch once again led the game in digs after the senior finalized her final game in the Blue and Gold with 21 digs. Leading the group in attack percentage was freshman Addy Vollmer, as the Krum, Texas native accounted for nine kills, one error, and 12 attacks for a .667 hitting percentage.
First Set (L, 25-20)
The Tigers got the scoring started in set one, as the group recorded a 2-0 start with a kill by Emily Adams and a block by Leah Gardner. The Muleriders quickly usurped Ouachita's lead, as the Blue and Gold went on a 3-0 stretch that began with an OUA service error. SAU was aided by two more Tiger errors, as OUA recorded a bad set and attack error for the Muleriders to claim the 3-2 lead. After an assisted block by the Ouachita, Southern Arkansas recorded the next three points again, this time of their own accord with kills by Allie Cooper and Kendall Toliver, 6-3. The Tigers quickly rebounded the Mulerider stretch, as the unit tied the set at 6-6. After kills by Addy Vollmer and Toliver, 8-6, Ouachita countered SAU again with two kills of their own, 8-8. After both groups accounted for pairs of kills, Ouachita Baptist gained its lead back with a 3-0 run, all kills by Thedford. Southern Arkansas showed that even though they were down, they were not out with a 7-4 run to tie the set back up, 17-17. The two groups went back and forth up to the 20-20 mark, as Ouachita went on to gain the momentum and win the opening set with the next five points.
Second Set (L, 25-11)
While OUA started the set with the lead, the Muleriders caught some fire with a 3-0 stretch to go up 3-1 early in the second. However, the Tigers followed up the run with a 6-0 run to go up 7-3. After a pair of kills by Brinklee Dauenhauer, 7-5, Southern Arkansas continued to try and gain its way back into the set, but were halted by Ouachita and were unable to bring the set within reach.
Third Set (L, 25-23)
Once again, the Tigers started the scoring with a 2-0 lead before the Muleriders came right back with a 3-0 run, claiming a 3-2 lead. After a pair of Tiger points, SAU countered the group with 6-2 run to lead 9-6. After that, Ouachita made its comeback to overtake the Muleriders with a 5-1 stretch, 11-10. The two groups went back and forth for a while with the deficit remaining close at 15-13. Southern Arkansas went on to claim the lead again after a 5-1 run of its own, 18-16, holding the lead for the next few points, 20-18. After that, the Tigers reclaimed their advantage with a 4-0 stretch, 22-20. SAU recorded another point with a Nashua Graham kill, but was followed by a 2-0 OUA run for a match point 24-21 score. Southern Arkansas did sit back though, as the group tallied two more points with a Ouachita attack error and Vollmer kill, 24-23. However, the Muleriders' comeback was cut short with an Emily Adams kill.
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