RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference has released the 2026 Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll. Among the list, Mulerider Volleyball has been selected as the ninth overall unit following the unit receiving 43 points in the poll. The squad is tabbed at ninth after making its second Great American Conference Championship Tournament run in three seasons.
 
Fifth-year Head Coach Alli Harrell is set to return to the court with some new faces, but plenty of returning ones. The 2026 Mulerider Volleyball squad will consist of five seniors (one redshirt senior), with all five making their return to Harrell's system.
 
Highlighting those returners is Brinklee Dauenhauer, the Blue and Gold's lone All-GAC returnee. At the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, Dauenhauer was named to the All-GAC Honorable Mentions. Following her previous three seasons at Southern Arkansas University, Dauenhauer has already tabbed herself as one of the program's most prolific athletes to don the Blue and Gold. The Springtown, Texas native is currently a part of 12 lists in the program's record book. Most notably, Dauenhauer either leads or is tied for the lead in most kills in a single match (28), most attack attempts in a single match (76), most points in a single match (31.0), most kills in a five-set match (28), most attack attempts in a five-set match (76), and the most points in a five-set match (31.0).
 
Other returning seniors for SAU who all saw significant playing time a year ago include Kendall Toliver, Hayden Pinard, Jessica Porten, and Allie Cooper. Cooper and Toliver both are back after being the second- and third-most point scorers from the 2025 campaign.
 
Harrell also returns two juniors to the squad, as Courtnee Morgan and Addison Anderson are set for the 2026 season. A year ago, Morgan ended up finishing with the fourth-most points and kills on the unit. The Muleriders add three new faces to the junior classification for the upcoming stint with Ava Rann, Charley Walker, and Peyton Estes.
 
For the underclassmen, SAU brings back four sophomores from last season's group, those being Ryleigh Layton, Nasiya Graham, Kate Schofield, and Addy Vollmer. Graham, Schofield, and Vollmer all return with plenty of experience under their belts from their freshman year. With the sophomores, only one new face joins the unit in Gracie Moore, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 
For the freshmen, the group is represented by three members coming in from west of the Natural State border. Those three include Bailey Walker, Maddie McSpadden, and Peighten Killeen.
 
The Muleriders' season will begin very soon, as the group starts home action inside the W.T. Watson Center with a home tournament on August 27-29. The tournament marks the first home tournament since the 2018 campaign.
 
Harding University earned four first-place votes and 114 total points to top the 2026 Great American Conference Preseason Volleyball Coaches' Poll, edging defending tournament champion Oklahoma Baptist (111 points, six first-place votes).

2025 regular-season champion Ouachita Baptist claimed the remaining two first-place votes to finish third with 96 points, followed by Southwestern Oklahoma State in fourth (94 points) and Arkansas Tech in fifth (86 points).  East Central and Henderson State rounded out the top half of the league in a tie for sixth with 62 points.

Southern Nazarene (46), Southern Arkansas (43), and Southeastern Oklahoma State (42) fill the eighth through tenth positions, while Northwestern Oklahoma State (24) and Arkansas-Monticello (12) complete the balloting.

The top eight teams in the league's regular season standings qualify for the November 12-14 Great American Conference tournament at Fire Lake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  Play begins Thursday, August 27, with five non-conference matches.
 
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