SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist is heading to Arkansas one final time this regular season on Oct. 23-24 to face Henderson State and Ouachita.
The Bison play the Reddies on Thursday at 6 p.m. before a 5 p.m. match on Friday versus the Tigers. Coach
Anna Howle's squad is 8-3 in the D2 era against Henderson and 8-4 against Ouachita.
Currently, Ouachita is the first-place team in the GAC with a 19-3 overall record and 9-0 league mark. The Bison are tied for second at 15-6 and 7-2 while HSU is 12-11 and 4-5 and sitting in seventh in the conference.
Below are notes on the three squads.
Bison Notes
- OBU earned two wins last week, 3-1 versus Southern Arkansas and 3-0 against Arkansas-Monticello.
- The Bison are the top hitting team in the GAC at .229.
- They also collect 13.28 kills per set. That's No. 2 in the conference and 50th nationally.
- Oklahoma Baptist and Ouachita are the top two defenses in terms of opponent hitting percentage. The Bison give up .158 while the Tigers are the GAC leader (.150).
- Rylee Unruh continues to be a potential All-GAC First Team member. She's third in aces (34), ninth in kills (208) and ranks fourth in points per set (3.70).
- Defensively, Mackenzie Frazee is third in blocks per set (1.10) while Karsyn Hunter checks in at fifth in digs (318).
- OBU is 3-1 all-time in matches against Henderson State inside the Duke Wells Center. They are 2-2 versus the Tigers at Sturgis Physical Education Center.
Reddies Notes
- HSU has lost two of its last three matches after being defeated 3-1 by East Central on Oct. 17.
- A few things stick out about the Reddies. They are second in the country with 1,613 digs, and fifth in attacks (3,239) and total blocks (188.5).
- Their 18.76 digs per set is ninth-best in D2 and second in the GAC.
- Plus, Henderson is No. 14 nationally and second with 980 assists.
- Individually, Kaylon Partain is second in the country with a 5.94 digs-per-set average.
- Teammate Katilyn Steffes is having an incredible year too. She's the national leader with 349 kills and seventh with 4.47 kills per set.
- Lastly, Cassidi Campbell has 93 total blocks. That's second-best in the GAC and 17th in Division II.
Tigers Notes
- Ouachita is on a nine-match winning streak after earning a 3-0 win at Southeastern on Oct. 17.
- The Tigers' defense is as good as it comes in the GAC. They lead in digs per set (19.57) and rank third nationally in that category.
- They also lead the GAC in opponent hitting percentage (.150).
- Kylie Kisgen is fifth in the country and second in the GAC in digs per set (5.82). She's also sixth nationally in total digs (442).
- Courtney Hanson's 40 aces are tops in the league and slotted 15th in D2.
- Ouchita's Leah Gardner is another top conference player. She's third – and 15th nationally – with a .392 hitting percentage.
- Gardner is also fifth in the GAC averaging 1.05 blocks per set.
