The East Central University volleyball team will return to action after getting a weekend off, with a match at Southwestern Oklahoma State (Nov. 5/7 p.m.) and a home match against Ouachita Baptist (Nov. 9/2 p.m.).

Match Notes

Scouting Southwestern
The Bulldogs are 10-18 overall and 6-5 in the GAC after winning their last match against Northwestern Oklahoma State (Oct. 31).

SWOSU is close to its opponents in all the areas on the season box score, but they trail in all.  The biggest disadvantage is in hitting percentage at .167 to .200.

The Bulldogs have two key hitters with over 900 attempts and 300 kills and a third with over 650 attempts.  Joey Collins leads the offensive chart with 1,023 attempts and 315 kills.  Collins also adds 240 digs and 38 block assists.  Carly Zak is the other player with over 900 attempts, with a .203 (356k-159e-972ta) hitting percentage and 37 (3-34) blocks.  Alison Cole is the most consistent hitter for SWOSU with a .251 (272k-105e-666ta) hitting percentage, while adding 117 (23-94) blocks.

Against the Bulldogs
In the first meeting this season with SWOSU, the Lady Tigers earned a 3-0 win at the Kerr Activities Center.  ECU earned a .205 to .087 advantage in hitting percentage as the key to the game.

Senior Danielle Essix led ECU with 11 kills and 12 digs, with sophomore Hayley Gerken adding 12 kills, three blocks and two service aces.

Carly Zak was the top performer for the Bulldogs, with 10 kills and five digs.

The Series
The Lady Tigers hold a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series with SWOSU.  The series is knotted at 2-2 when played in Weatherford, Okla., while ECU has won the last three matches.

Scouting Ouachita Baptist
OBU is 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the GAC after dropping their last match of the season.  OBU will face Arkansas-Monticello (Nov. 5) before traveling to ECU for Saturday's match.

OBU is close to its opponents across the scoreboard, with their biggest advantages in hitting percentage (.183/.176) and blocks (1.7/1.3).

OBU has three clear hitters this season in Abby Pickett, Kelley Ballard and Jayme Shell.  Pickett has a .196 (184k-86e-501ta) hitting percentage and adds 33 (4-29) blocks.  Ballard is the most consistent hitter with a .217 (151k-56e-437ta) hitting percentage and 45 (15-30) blocks.  Shell adds 22 service aces, 128 kills and 203 digs.

Against the Lady Tigers
This is the first meeting between the Lady Tiger teams in 2013.  OBU earned the win in the last meeting (Nov. 2, 2012), 1-3.  Both teams struggled with hitting consistency, with .087 (ECU) and .143 (OBU) hitting percentages.  Part of the issue was strong blocking by both teams, with ECU recording nine total team blocks and OBU 11.

The Series
The battle of the Lady Tigers is currently tied a 2-2 in the all-time series.  OBU earned the last win in the series, with a 1-3 mark in Arkadelphia, Ark.  ECU is currently 1-0 when playing in Ada.

Home Court Advantage
In 2013 the Lady Tigers are 7-3 when playing at home and have won their last seven matches in the Kerr Activities Center.

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 1,016 kills in her career and also leads the career marks in attempts (2,960) and points (1,184.0).

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 186 blocks, or 2.02 per set.  ECU's 1.95 blocks per game (as of Oct. 27) ranks them No. 85 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 (731)

Noelle Cope   
 - 1st Kills (1,016)
- 1st Attempts (2,960)
- 1st Points (1,184.0)
- 4th Block Assists (130)
- 4th Block Solos (27)
- 4th Total Blocks (157)
- 4th Matches Played (110)
- 4th Sets Played (383)

Danielle Essix    
- 1st Service Aces (91)
- 2nd Attempts (2,840)
- 2nd Kills (896)
- 2nd Points (1,050.5)
- 3rd Matches Played (117)
- 3rd Sets Played (400)
- 3rd Digs (910)

Hayley Gerken    
- 3rd Total Blocks (178)
- 3rd Block Assists (154)
- 4th Attack Pct. (.220)

Sarah Nelson    
- 1st Total Blocks (286)
- 1st Block Assists (250)
- 2nd Block Solos (36)
- 5th Matches Played (107)

Madison Seiler    
- 5th Assists (409)

Jessica Wilkinson  
 - 3rd Assists (1,272)

Up Next
The Lady Tigers will wrap up the 2013 GAC season at home against Southern Nazarene, Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.  The night is also the annual Senior Night where ECU will honor its seven seniors: Taylor Brown, Noelle Cope, Danielle Essix, Sarah Nelson, Kennedy Riley, Jessica Wilkinson and Ashley Williams.