SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's final regular-season road trip to Arkansas comes this week. On Oct. 19, the green and gold face off with Ouachita before an Oct. 20 date with Henderson State. The Bison possess two winning records over the Tigers and Reddies in these series: 6-2 over Ouachita and 5-3 against HSU.
Bison Notes
- OBU has won seven of eight after a 3-0 thumping of Arkansas-Monticello on Oct. 13.
- Anna Howle's squad is 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the GAC. They are tied for second in the league and one match back of Harding.
- Jill Leslie, a redshirt sophomore middle blocker, was named the GAC's Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16. She is the first Bison player in the GAC era to earn offensive and defensive (Oct. 2) individual honors in the same season.
- Leslie also leads the GAC and ranks 30th in the nation with a .370 hitting percentage.
- Senior D'Erricka Frierson checks in at ninth in kills per set (2.71). She has reached double-digit kill totals seven times this year.
- Rylee Martin continues to lead in assists. The sophomore ranks seventh in the GAC with a 6.04 per-set average. She has reached 20+ assists in 12 matches.
- Freshman Emily Boyer has proven to be a very good server. She's 10th in aces (0.32).
- Defensively, both Allie Stricker and Leslie are in the top-10 in blocks while Maci Langford's 4.62 digs-per-set average is third-best.
- Nationally, the Bison are in the top sixth of D2 schools in these categories: assists (32nd; 12.35), kills per set (40th; 13.14) and hitting percentage (41st; .235).
Ouachita Notes
- The Tigers have dropped their last two matches after a 3-1 defeat at Southeastern.
- Coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer's team is 11-13 overall and 3-6 in GAC play. At home though, the Tigers possess a 7-3 record.
- Middle blocker Haley Fairchild has competed with OBU's Leslie for the top hitting mark this year. Going into the week, Fairchild ranks second (.365).
- Leah Gardner is another potent weapon for Ouachita. She ranks sixth in hitting (.301).
- Setter Courtney Hanson is the GAC leader in assists (9.37). She has tallied as many as 59 assists this year.
- Ouachita also possesses the conference leader in aces: Riley Braziel. She averages 0.45 per set.
- As a team, the Tigers are the second-best in the GAC in hitting percentage, only trailing the Bison.
- Defensively, the Tigers have had a few issues. They rank tenth of 12 teams in opponent attack percentage (.221) and kills (12.77).
- They also rank 11th in opponent blocks (1.86).
Henderson State Notes
- The Reddies had a three-match winning streak snapped after they fell to East Central in four sets on Oct. 13. HSU currently has a 15-7 record and 6-3 GAC mark.
- Friday's match will be Henderson's first at home in two weeks. They are 8-4 inside the Duke Wells Center.
- Henderson has shined defensively in 2023. It is ranked 11th in the nation and lead the GAC in opponent hitting percentage (.122). They also lead in digs (17.79).
- Furthermore, the Reddies are second in blocks (2.12) behind the Bison.
- Two players lead HSU offensively: Larkin Luke and Christiane Uzoh. Luke's .323 attack mark ranks seventh while Uzoh is slotted eighth in kills per set (2.97).
- Luke is also a force on the blocking front, ranking second in blocks per set (0.93).
- Additionally, Trinity Sharp has the second-best digs-per-set average at 4.70.
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