For the third-straight season the East Central University volleyball team will be participating in the Great American Conference Tournament.  This year the Lady Tigers earned their highest finish, as the No. 3 seed with an 8-6 league record.  The tournament will also be played at a neutral site for the first time, as the teams travel to Hot Springs, Ark., to play at Summit Arena, Nov. 21-23.  ECU's first opponent is No. 6 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State, Thursday, Nov. 21 at noon.

Match Notes

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats and live video on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the volleyball schedule page.  All the game from the tournament will be broadcast on the GAC Sports Network and will be available for purchase after the tournament is over through www.gacsportsnetwork.com.

Scouting Southeastern
The Savage Storm finished the regular-season with a 13-17 overall mark and a 7-7 record in the GAC.  Southeastern has a .169 overall hitting percentage and its opponents are hitting at a .187 pace for the season.  They are close, but trail in all other statistical categories.

The Savage Storm have two key hitters in Emily Gentle and Megan Kunkel.  Gentle has a .187 (352k-156e-1049ta) hitting percentage, 28 service aces, 257 digs and 57 (7-50) total blocks for the season.  Kunkel added 36 service aces, 299 digs and a .118 (262k-155e-909ta) hitting percentage.

Against the Savage Storm
2013 was a good year against Southeastern for the Lady Tigers, as they earned their first win on the road against the Savage Storm.  ECU went 2-0 in the regular-season meetings between the two teams and earned a clear .234 to .066 hitting percentage advantage and 2.29 to 1.00 blocking lead.

Senior Danielle Essix led the charge for the Lady Tigers with 27 kills and 27 digs.  Sophomore Hayley Gerken added 19 kills and seven block assists.

Emily Gentle led the Savage Storm with 24 kills, six digs and four (1-3) blocks.  Courtney Miller added 10 kills and 18 digs.

The Series
While ECU has earned the last two wins in the all-time series with Southeastern, the Savage Storm still hold an 8-4 lead in the series.  Thursday's meeting will be the first on a neutral court.

Against Arkansas Tech
A win against Southeastern would pit the Lady Tigers against either Arkansas Tech or Southern Arkansas.  ECU fell 0-3 to ATU earlier this season on the road.  Senior Noelle Cope led the team with 11 kills and five digs.

Against Southern Arkansas
ECU and Southern Arkansas meet just once this season, with the Lady Tigers earning a 3-1 win at the Kerr Activities Center.  Seniors Danielle Essix and Ashley Williams led the Lady Tigers in the match.  Essix tallied 16 kills and 18 digs, while Williams added 14 kills and eight (2-6) blocks.

First Winning GAC Season
The Lady Tigers earned their first winning GAC season with their 8-6 record against league teams in 2013.  The first two years in the conference ECU had finished 8-8 (2011) and 7-7 (2012).

The Lady Tigers also finished third (highest seed) in the conference standings after being picked to finish sixth at the start of the season.

Tournament History
ECU has advanced to the tournament all three seasons in the GAC.  In 2011, the Lady Tigers won their opening match against Arkansas Tech (3-0) and then fell to Ouachita Baptist (2-3) in the semifinals.  In 2012, ECU fell in the opening round to Southern Arkansas (2-3).

Wilkinson Honored
ECU senior Jessica Wilkinson earned her first Great American Conference Setter of the Week honor after taking over the lone setting position for the Lady Tigers last week.

After playing in the match against Southwestern Oklahoma State as part of a two-setter system, Wilkinson played the position alone against Ouachita Baptist. As the Lady Tigers rallied for the win, she set an ECU record for assists in a five-set match with 54. She added 12 digs in the victory.

1st Member 1,000 Kill Club
Senior Noelle Cope became the first member of the 1,000 Kill Club at ECU Oct. 29, 2013 at Northwestern Oklahoma State.  Cope now has 1,054 kills in her career and also leads the career marks in attempts (3,091) and points (1,226.5).

Blocking Party
The Lady Tigers are already on pace to have one of the best blocking seasons after their opening two matches of the season.  The most blocks in a season by ECU is 245.0 from the 2011 season, which averaged out to 1.93 blocks per set.  The Lady Tigers already have 215.0 blocks, or 1.99 per set.  ECU's 1.98 blocks per game (as of Nov. 11) ranks them No. 78 in the NCAA.  

Tracking the Record Books
While the ECU volleyball program has only been around since 2008, there are several members of the 2013 squad that are at the top or close to the top of several career record categories.

Taylor Brown    
- 4th Assists (739)
- 5th Digs (801)
- 5th Sets Played (376)

Noelle Cope     
- 1st Kills (1,054)
- 1st Attempts (3,091)
- 1st Points (1,226.5)
- 4th Service Aces (79)
- 4th Block Assists (133)
- 4th Block Solos (27)
- 4th Total Blocks (160)
- 4th Digs (833)
- 4th Matches Played (114)
- 4th Sets Played (399)

Danielle Essix    
- 1st Service Aces (92)
- 2nd Attempts (2,986)
- 2nd Kills (940)
- 2nd Points (1,099.5)
- 3rd Matches Played (121)
- 3rd Sets Played (415)
- 3rd Digs (957)

Hayley Gerken    
- 3rd Total Blocks (187)
- 3rd Block Assists (162)
- 4th Block Solos (27)
- 5th Attack Pct. (.216)

Sarah Nelson  
 - 1st Total Blocks (300)
- 1st Block Assists (261)
- 2nd Block Solos (39)
- 5th Matches Played (111)

Madison Seiler    
- 5th Assists (427)

Jessica Wilkinson    
- 3rd Assists (1,409)