SHAWNEE – Two opportunities inside the Noble Complex come Oklahoma Baptist's way this week. On Oct. 12 at 6 p.m., the Bison play Southern Arkansas before a 4 p.m. bout with Arkansas-Monticello on Oct. 13.
The green and gold are a combined 13-1 versus the Muleriders (7-0) and Cotton Blossoms (6-1). OBU's only loss came to UAM on Oct. 14, 2016 in a five-setter.
Coming into the week, the Bison are in a three-way tie for second place in the Great American Conference. They possess an 11-7 overall record and 5-2 GAC mark.
Bison Notes
- The Bison went 2-1 last week with wins against Southwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech. Its loss came to first-place Harding.
- OBU will look to get back on track offensively after hitting .155. Senior Jenna West led the team with 24 kills and a 2.18 per-set average.
- Senior libero Maci Langford was named the GAC's Defensive Player of the Week. That was her fifth honor of her career. She tallied 65 digs in last week's three matches.
- Langford's performances moved her from fifth to first in the GAC in digs per set (4.71).
- Outside hitter D'Erricka Frierson has made some movement into the GAC statistics. She sits in tenth in points (102) and ninth in kills (89; 2.62).
- Redshirt sophomore Jill Leslie continues to have very good season. She is third in hitting percentage (.347) and seventh in blocks (0.84).
- The Bison have a handful of players that have made solid impacts offensively. Jh'Kyah Head, Lauren Safrit, West, Leslie and Frierson all average at least 2.19 kills per set.
- Sophomore Rylee Martin has the eighth-best assists-per-set average in the GAC (5.87) while the team ranks 33rd in Division II (12.17).
Southern Arkansas Notes
- The Muleriders are 10-9 this year after a five-set win against East Central on Oct. 6. Their GAC record is 4-3.
- This will be the fourth time SAU has come to OBU. They are 0-3 in the previous matches.
- A player to keep an eye on is Isla Olivas. She is eighth in the GAC in hitting (.297).
- Additionally, Kayte Delong is slotted tenth in the same category (.290) as well as kills (2.55).
- In the serve game, Morgan Schuster has 28 aces and a 0.39 average per set. That's good for fourth in the GAC.
- Defensively, Lauryn Moultrie's 0.93 blocks per set ranks fifth in the league.
- As a unit, SAU checks in at No. 4 in both aces (1.66) and digs (15.97). They are also fifth in hitting mark (.198).
Arkansas-Monticello Notes
- Things have been very tough for UAM this year.
- They are 0-19, one of just five Division 2 schools to have not won a game.
- Sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Welton leads the team with 2.31 kills per set.
- Pacing the way in the assists department is freshman Meagan Anderson. She averaged 5.15 assists per set.
- As a team, UAM ranks 12th in the GAC in hitting (0.32), assists (7.69) and kills (8.33).
- Defensively, the Cotton Blossoms are also ranked last in opponent hitting (.246) and opponent aces (2.26).
- Stasha Adams leads the Blossoms with 4.03 digs per set.
- Jordan Wehr and Zoe Finkler each have 15 aces to lead UAM.
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