SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will make their inaugural appearance at the Great American Conference Volleyball Championships as the three-seed Thursday against sixth-seeded Ouachita. OBU will play the first match of the tournament at noon at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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The Lady Bison (17-14, 11-5 GAC) defeated the Tigers (19-11, 9-7 GAC) in three sets at the Noble Complex earlier this season behind a big performance from
Cadyn Laing, who finished with 13 kills and 10 blocks.
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OBU picks up 12.9 kills per set on a .210 hitting percentage while leading the GAC with 2.4 blocks per set. Redshirt freshman
Mikayla Watson provides 3.31 kills per set (sixth in GAC) to lead the Lady Bison and Laing adds 3.02 kills (eighth in GAC) and 0.99 blocks (fifth in GAC).
Hayden Blair assists at a rate of 9.49 per set (sixth in GAC) and Kelsi Chavez picks up 4.74 digs per set (sixth in GAC).
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Senior
Sophia Couto is second in the conference at 1.12 blocks and
Nicole Fleitman averages 0.87 blocks (ninth in GAC). Couto has 136.0 total blocks this season and needs just four to equal the program record, set by Laing in 2016.
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Ouachita averages 13.1 kills on a .224 attack percentage and holds opponents to .178 hitting. The Tigers are led by Kori Bullard at 3.05 kills (ninth in GAC) while Adrianna Nolly hits at a .327 clip (fourth in GAC) and leads the team with 0.86 blocks. Stormi Leonard fuels the offense at a rate of 10.59 assists per set (third in GAC) and Nikki Clay scoops up 4.60 digs (10
th in GAC).
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If the Lady Bison advance Thursday, they would face the winner of No. 2 Harding and No. 7 Southwestern Oklahoma State in the GAC Semifinal at 3:30 Friday afternoon. The Championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.Â
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